Re: Why is it bad practice to consume Linked Data and publish opaque HTML pages?

+1 verified, maybe a lot more if people took this advice :-)




________________________________
 From: Kingsley Idehen <kidehen@openlinksw.com>
To: "public-lod@w3.org" <public-lod@w3.org> 
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 9:35 AM
Subject: Why is it bad practice to consume Linked Data and publish opaque  HTML pages?
 
All,

" Citing sources is useful for many reasons: (a) it shows that it isn't a half-baked idea I just pulled out of thin air, (b) it provides a reference for anybody who wants to dig into the subject, and (c) it shows where the ideas originated and how they're likely to evolve." -- John F. Sowa [1].

An HTTP URI is an extremely powerful citation and attribution mechanism. Incorporate Linked Data principles and the power increases exponentially.

It is okay to consume Linked Data from wherever and publish HTML documents based on source data modulo discoverable original sources Linked Data URIs.

It isn't okay, to consume publicly available Linked Data from sources such as the LOD cloud and then republish the extracted content using HTML documents, where the original source Linked Data URIs aren't undiscoverable by humans or machines.

The academic community has always had a very strong regard for citations and source references. Thus, there's no reason why the utility of Linked Data URIs shouldn't be used to reinforce this best-practice, at Web-scale .

Links:

1. http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/2013-03/msg00084.html -- ontolog list post .

-- 
Regards,

Kingsley Idehen    
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
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