Schema.org update: new and updated proposals

New additions to WebSchemas Wiki from schema.org team

I've just been updating the WebSchemas Wiki to share some drafts that
the schema.org team are considering adding to schema.org, as well as
making a pass over the Wiki to bring it closer to being up-to-date
w.r.t. schema.org.

As always http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas is the front page, with
proposals listed at
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/SchemaDotOrgProposals

Please comment here or in the Wiki; if you reply in email, do change
the Subject: line to a more specific topic, to help people keep track
of the discussion.

There are also a number of longstanding proposals from the wider
community that are ready to move forward. Working through the backlog,
I'll next address TV/Radio, and then historical-data. I have also been
revisiting the issues list hence the WorkersUnion thread. The next
step you can expect to see is more formal RDFS/RDFa schemas for the
various proposals, and some experimental test builds of the site so we
can see how various of these drafts look when integrated together.

The new and updated materials from schema.org team:

1. The most technically complex is "Actions in Schema.org". This is an
initiative to bring a notion of "verb" to schema.org. It has a lot of
potential; please take a  look. The page at
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/ActivityActions links to the earlier
design proposals, and to the proposal in PDF form:
http://www.w3.org/wiki/images/3/38/ActionsinSchema.org2013-05-11.pdf

This new draft takes a slightly different approach than the "Minimal
draft" circulated late last year; in particular it is a lot more
explicit in talking about usage scenarios. This should make it less
cryptic to read! In particular, it is interesting as it explores uses
of schema.org that go beyond simple public Web pages.

2. "Orders in Schema.org"
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/OrdersSchema
"While schema.org already supports marking up offers to sell products
(pre-transaction), it does not currently provide schema for the common
kinds of confirmations and notifications around orders
(post-transaction)".
PDF: http://www.w3.org/wiki/images/d/d4/Schema.org_Orders_Proposal_2013-04-19.pdf

3. "Reservations in Schema.org"
This proposal includes new types for describing reservations and tickets
""This proposal includes new types for describing reservations and
tickets. A generalized Reservation type described, as well as
sub­types for flight, train, bus, car, restaurant, event and hotel
reservations. An additional type ReservationPackage is also proposed,
which should be used to group complex reservations (e.g. flights with
multiple legs, itineraries with a flight and a hotel) under a single
item."
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/ReservationsSchema
PDF: http://www.w3.org/wiki/images/7/74/Schema.orgReservationsProposalMay2013.pdf

4. EmailMessage
A simple additional type, subtype of CreativeWork and corresponding to
the existing type WebPage.

5. Events (revised proposal for update)
This is an improved version of a proposal from last year. The previous
version's design for recurring events was flawed; see
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/EventSchemaUpdate for a new design.
PDF: http://www.w3.org/wiki/images/d/db/Events-proposalforupdatedschemav2.pdf



Alongside the above proposals from the schema.org team, can I also
draw your attention in particular to some other items in
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/SchemaDotOrgProposals:

6. WorkersUnion
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/WorkersUnionSchema
I believe this design from last week's WebSchemas discussion addresses
http://www.w3.org/2011/webschema/track/issues/17 and I'll recommend
that schema.org adopt it immediately. Any final tweaks?

7. Accessibility proposal
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/Accessibility
This is a substantive proposal on an important topic; please take a look.

8. sameThingAs
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/sameThingAs
This proposal (from various offline converations) seems ready for
adoption and potentially very useful in helping defragment schema.org
data. The semantics are essentially those of owl:sameAs, but modified
in the sense that schema.org in practice very often involves blurring
the distinction between identifiers for pages versus identifiers for
the entities they describe. Therefore giving it a distinct property
name ('sameThingAs') instead of 'sameAs' should make it easier to talk
colloquially about it alongside owl:sameAs, without excessive
confusion.

I'll recommend schema.org adopts it as 'sameThingAs', but advice on
naming especially welcomed.

9. Citation
http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/CitationPromotion
This proposal from the http://www.w3.org/community/schemabibex/
community group seems sensible, practical and easy: allow 'citation'
to be attached to any CreativeWork.
Let's do it! Any objections, or final suggestions?

There are plenty more good candidates for schema.org schemas linked
from www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/SchemaDotOrgProposals ... thoughts on
these proposals and their interconnections is always welcome, here or
in the Wiki.

cheers,

Dan

Received on Saturday, 11 May 2013 23:42:16 UTC