Re: SKOS use cases format

Daniel Rubin wrote:
> Yes, makes sense. By "vocabulary extract" I presume you mean the entire 
> vocabulary. 

No, I meant part of a vocabulary. The use case should provide extracts 
that illustrate all of the different features of the vocabulary. (It 
could also provide a reference to the entire vocabulary.)

Cheers,

Alistair.



> Since many applications of the terminologies have not been 
> defined yet, I suspect requirements will be driven by representational 
> requirements of the individual terminologies.
> Daniel.
> 
> At 06:15 AM 11/23/2006, Alistair Miles wrote:
>> Hi Daniel,
>>
>> Daniel Rubin wrote:
>>> My question though is what we will do with this--exactly how will 
>>> responses to these questions drive SKOS requirements?
>>
>> My idea was that the vocabulary extracts could act as test cases for 
>> SKOS - for each extract we could ask, is it possible to create a SKOS 
>> representation that carries the same information? Or, more tangibly, 
>> is it possible to create a SKOS representation, such that the original 
>> extract can be regenerated automatically?
>>
>> I.e. the vocabulary extracts in the use cases we select would, to a 
>> first approximation, define the representational *scope* of SKOS. The 
>> descriptions of the applications then help to refine the 
>> representational scope, by informing us as to which data are actually 
>> required to achieve specific functionalities, bearing in mind that the 
>> ultimate goal of SKOS is to enable (as yet unspecified) functionality.
>>
>> Does that make sense?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Alistair.
>>
>>> I was expecting that we collect information about each use case to 
>>> directly drive requirements of SKOS. So I was expecting each question 
>>> to somehow hit on what exactly needs to be in SKOS, but it's not 
>>> completely clear to me in looking at these questions. Maybe something 
>>> to discuss when we chat on our tcon.
>>> Daniel
>>> At 04:26 AM 11/22/2006, Alistair Miles wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Antoine, Jon, Daniel,
>>>>
>>>> How about this for a call for use cases and use case format ...
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>>   W3C Semantic Web Deployment Working Group
>>>>
>>>>   Call for Use Cases: Simple Knowledge Organisation Systems (SKOS)
>>>>
>>>> Are you currently using SKOS, or considering using SKOS in the near 
>>>> future? If so, please tell us more by filling in the questionnaire 
>>>> below and sending it to:
>>>>
>>>>   public-swd-wg@w3.org
>>>>
>>>> The information you provide will be influential in guiding the 
>>>> further development of SKOS towards W3C Recommendation status.
>>>>
>>>> We understand that your time is precious, so please don't feel you 
>>>> have to answer every question. However, the more information you can 
>>>> provide, the easier it will be for the Working Group to understand 
>>>> your requirements. Questions marked with an asterix (*) are more 
>>>> important.
>>>>
>>>> We are particularly interested in use cases describing the use of 
>>>> controlled structured vocabularies in distributed, metadata-driven 
>>>> applications. This includes the use of thesauri, classification 
>>>> schemes, subject heading systems and taxonomies to facilitate 
>>>> discovery and retrieval of information. This also includes 
>>>> situations where two or more vocabularies must be "mapped" or 
>>>> "linked" in order to provide applications using heterogeneous 
>>>> metadata from different sources.
>>>>
>>>> However, we're not ruling anything out at this stage, and the 
>>>> Working Group will carefully consider all submissions we receive.
>>>>
>>>> On behalf of the Working Group, thanks in advance for your time,
>>>>
>>>> [names]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   SKOS Use Case Questionnaire
>>>>   ---------------------------
>>>>
>>>>   Section 1. Vocabularies
>>>>
>>>> In this section we ask you to provide some information about the 
>>>> vocabulary or vocabularies you would like to be able to represent 
>>>> using SKOS.
>>>>
>>>> [N.B. if your use case describes a generic application of one or 
>>>> more vocabularies and/or vocabulary mappings, skip straight to 
>>>> section 3.]
>>>>
>>>> 1.1. What is the title of the vocabulary(ies)?
>>>>
>>>> 1.2. (*) Please provide below some extracts from the 
>>>> vocabulary(ies). Use the layout or presentation format that you 
>>>> would normally provide for the users of the vocabulary(ies). Please 
>>>> ensure that the extracts you provide illustrate all of the features 
>>>> of the vocabulary(ies).
>>>>
>>>> 1.3. Describe the structure of the vocabulary(ies). What are the 
>>>> main building blocks? What types of relationship are used? If you 
>>>> can, provide examples by referring to the extracts given above.
>>>>
>>>> 1.4. Is a machine-readable representation of the vocabulary(ies) 
>>>> already available (e.g. as an XML document)? If so, we'd be grateful 
>>>> if you could provide some example data or point us to a hyperlink.
>>>>
>>>> 1.5. Are any software applications used to create and/or maintain 
>>>> the vocabulary(ies)? Are there any features which these software 
>>>> applications currently lack which are required by your use case?
>>>>
>>>> 1.6. If a database application is used to store and/or manage the 
>>>> vocabulary, how is the database structured?
>>>>
>>>> 1.7. Were any published standards, textbooks or written guidelines 
>>>> followed during the design and construction of the vocabulary? Did 
>>>> you decide to diverge from their recommendations in any way, and if 
>>>> so, how and why?
>>>>
>>>> 1.8. How are changes to the vocabulary(ies) managed?
>>>>
>>>> 1.9. Any additional information, references and/or hyperlinks.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   Section 2. Vocabulary Mappings
>>>>
>>>> In this section we ask you to provide some information about the 
>>>> mappings or links between vocabularies you would like to be able to 
>>>> represent using SKOS.
>>>>
>>>> [N.B. if your use case does not involve vocabulary mappings or links 
>>>> skip straight to section 3.]
>>>>
>>>> 2.1. Which vocabularies are you linking/mapping from/to?
>>>>
>>>> 2.2. (*) Please provide below some extracts from the mappings or 
>>>> links between the vocabularies. Use the layout or presentation 
>>>> format that you would normally provide for the users of the 
>>>> mappings. Please ensure that the examples you provide illustrate all 
>>>> of the different types of mapping or link.
>>>>
>>>> 2.3. Describe the different types of mapping used, with reference to 
>>>> the examples given above.
>>>>
>>>> 2.4. Any additional information, references and/or hyperlinks.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   Section 3. Application
>>>>
>>>> In this section we ask you to provide some information about the 
>>>> application for which the vocabulary(ies) and or vocabulary mappings 
>>>> are being used.
>>>>
>>>> 3.1. What is the title of the application?
>>>>
>>>> 3.2. What is the general purpose of the application? What services 
>>>> does it provide to the end-user?
>>>>
>>>> 3.3. (*) Provide some examples of the functionality of the 
>>>> application. Try to illustrate all of the functionalities in which 
>>>> the vocabulary(ies) and/or vocabulary mappings are involved.
>>>>
>>>> 3.4. What is the architecture of the application? What are the main 
>>>> components? Are the components and/or the data distributed across a 
>>>> network, or across the Web?
>>>>
>>>> 3.5. Briefly desribe any non-trivial algorithms involved in the 
>>>> processing of user actions, e.g. query expansion algorithms.
>>>>
>>>> 3.6. Is the functionality associated with the controlled 
>>>> vocabulary(ies) integrated in any way with functionalities provided 
>>>> by other means? (For example, search and browse using a structured 
>>>> vocabulary might be integrated with free-text searching and/or some 
>>>> sort of social bookmarking or recommender system.)
>>>>
>>>> 3.7. Any additional information, references and/or hyperlinks.
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>> End of questionnaire, thanks again.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Alistair Miles wrote:
>>>>> Hi Antoine,
>>>>> Antoine Isaac wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2. Independance of vocabulary section with respect to 
>>>>>> functionality section
>>>>>> I think that from our SKOS perspective it's important to emphasize 
>>>>>> on the vocabulary section for use case description. Even if you 
>>>>>> make the point in [3] that application focus is crucial, SKOS is 
>>>>>> finally about representing vocabularies. And I believe it's 
>>>>>> important for use case providers that they can express their needs 
>>>>>> with respect to this core aspect of their business. And therefore 
>>>>>> to do it in a section thay can immediately identify.
>>>>> How about if we divide a use case into two sections, a 
>>>>> "vocabulary(ies)" section and an "application" section?
>>>>> The "vocabulary(ies)" section would come first, and be centred 
>>>>> around extracts from one or more vocabularies.
>>>>> The "application" section would come second, and provide a 
>>>>> description of a current or proposed application of the 
>>>>> vocabulary(ies).
>>>>> If a vocab has already been described in another use case, then a 
>>>>> submission could be "application-only" and refer to the previous 
>>>>> use case where the vocabulary is described.
>>>>> We could indicate that we would accept "vocab-only" submissions, 
>>>>> but encourage submissions that include an application.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 3. Link to ISO standards.
>>>>>> Guus mentioned in [4] that we should link the use case to ISO 
>>>>>> standards. I think we should encourage the contributors to do so, 
>>>>>> if their case is already linked to it. I favor the addition of a 
>>>>>> "(non)compliance with existing encoding/representational 
>>>>>> standards" item in the vocabulary section. But I think we should 
>>>>>> mention the fact that filling this item is not mandatory, some 
>>>>>> vocabularies being developped outside of such considerations.
>>>>> I think it's important that we encourage submissions to present 
>>>>> extracts from their vocabulary(ies) according to whatever 
>>>>> human-readable layout(s)/format(s) they already use within the 
>>>>> given application (or intend to use within a planned application).
>>>>> I think it would be good to know if any particular standards or 
>>>>> guidelines were followed in the construction, maintenance and/or 
>>>>> presentation of the vocabularies. If a particular standard has been 
>>>>> followed, we could also ask the submission to highlight if any 
>>>>> decisions were made to diverge from the standard, why those 
>>>>> decisions were made, and diverge in what way.
>>>>> However, note that ISO 2788 doesn't really define a notion of 
>>>>> "compliance" or "conformance", and that there is plenty of room for 
>>>>> interpretation within that standard - so asking whether a 
>>>>> vocabulary "complies" with ISO 2788 may not give us much information.
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Alistair.
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> Alistair Miles
>>>> Research Associate
>>>> CCLRC - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
>>>> Building R1 Room 1.60
>>>> Fermi Avenue
>>>> Chilton
>>>> Didcot
>>>> Oxfordshire OX11 0QX
>>>> United Kingdom
>>>> Web: http://purl.org/net/aliman
>>>> Email: a.j.miles@rl.ac.uk
>>>> Tel: +44 (0)1235 445440
>>
>> -- 
>> Alistair Miles
>> Research Associate
>> CCLRC - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
>> Building R1 Room 1.60
>> Fermi Avenue
>> Chilton
>> Didcot
>> Oxfordshire OX11 0QX
>> United Kingdom
>> Web: http://purl.org/net/aliman
>> Email: a.j.miles@rl.ac.uk
>> Tel: +44 (0)1235 445440
> 
> 

-- 
Alistair Miles
Research Associate
CCLRC - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Building R1 Room 1.60
Fermi Avenue
Chilton
Didcot
Oxfordshire OX11 0QX
United Kingdom
Web: http://purl.org/net/aliman
Email: a.j.miles@rl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1235 445440

Received on Monday, 27 November 2006 10:18:30 UTC