Re: VIAF contributor model

On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Karen Coyle <kcoyle@kcoyle.net> wrote:
> Quoting Ross Singer <ross.singer@talis.com>:
>
>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 6:31 AM, Haffner, Alexander <A.Haffner@d-nb.de>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> However, back to the formats I don’t want to discuss J foaf doesn’t have
>>> the
>>> power to reflect our comprehensive data – I thought we want to make this
>>> high quality data available for the public –if so we should have a closer
>>> look modeling the data in FRBRer, FRAD and/or RDA in parallel to the SKOS
>>> representation.
>>>
>> I keep seeing this statement getting made: "FOAF/SKOS are not
>> expressive enough for our data" and I'm simply not buying it.
>>
>> Can somebody please back up this claim?  FOAF defines personal and
>> organizational entities.  SKOS defines concepts.
>>
>> Those are exactly the things we're describing.
>
> Ross, at a class level you are right. But if you look at the properties
> defined by foaf and the properties used in FRAD, there is virtually no
> overlap. So I think when people make that claim, they are talking about
> available properties, not classes.
>
Right, and I have no issue with coining new properties where there are none.

My point is simply that RDA, FRBRer and their ilk should avoid
defining classes wherever possible, since "type", I think, is the
easiest starting point for somebody (or something) to figure out what
exactly it's looking at.

I would avoid subclassing where possible, as well, since I think ratio
of agents with reasoning is likely to go down as linked data becomes
more mainstream.  Simple agents won't understand that rda:Person is a
kind of foaf:Person and unless there is some huge payoff I'm just not
seeing, it seems like would just further alienate us.

-Ross.

Received on Monday, 1 November 2010 14:43:51 UTC