Web? Some N3/SW Scribblings

# I'm starting to get the "Web" part of Semantic Web. Until now, it
# hasn't been at all apparent how it would come about (even with
# TimBL's little "zip" graphs), but with N3 I'm starting to get it:-

   @prefix s:
     <http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/semantic-web/2001Jan/0001.html>
   @prefix foaf:
     <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

   s:surname = foaf:surname .

# I would also liked to have put the following equivalence statement
# in Notation3:-

#    s:firstNames = foaf:firstname .

# But the properties outlined here aren't exactly equivalent (look at
# the schemas), therefore, I suggest a sign to say that something is
# *roughly* equivalent:-

   s:firstNames @= foaf:firstname .

# Anyway, the point of all of this is that s:surname in my certain N3
# database is equivalent to foaf:firstname in Dan Brickley's FOAF
# vocabulary.
# However, I could put this in my Schema for "s:", but a piece of
# RDF utilizing "foaf:" wouldn't know that mine is equivalent because
# it wouldn't be declared in Dan's FOAF vocab. (unless I asked him).
# Therefore, my question is "is there anyway of maintaining an open
# database, where people can just enter the details of their vocabulary
# term, and say that it is equivalent to mine?" and also "is this
necessary?",
# and "what if the vocabularies aren't in fact the same?".

# On reflection, we are assigning the FOAF as default when I use my
# schema to say that my term is equivalent to his... so it would only be
# necessary to say that for *my* schema, and schemas that use my N3
# nerm. Therefore, it looks like something like the system I just proposed
# wouldn't be required to make an SW work after all. What we *really*
# need are more people putting terms up and sharing them as widely as
# possible... and that's a whole other story :-)

# BTW "#" is an N3 comment. Thus this is proper N3.
# See my signature for more details of "linking it all together".

# Kindest Regards,
# Sean B. Palmer
@prefix t: <http://infomesh.net/2001/01/n3terms/> .
[ t:name "Sean B. Palmer" ] has t:homepage <http://infomesh.net/sbp/> .
t:name = s:name .
t:homepage = foaf:homepage .