Consolidating RDF XML data with different ids

Hi. I am trying to work through some practical aspects of RDF XML. I am 
hoping to receive advice to a hypothetical situation so that I have a 
clearer idea of how one might go about consolidating data from more than 
one graph into a single graph in a reasonable way.

Let's say I have a schema for automobiles where there are a number of 
properties that describe each car including model, manufacuter etc. I 
also have a schema for car parts also.

The schema is used by more than one person at different locations that 
have no communication with each other. Each automobile has a id. In 
addition to this when an automobile record was created, if a automobile 
manufacturer was not found in the graph, new triples were also created 
for the manufacturer which is also given a unique id.

Now I want to consolidate my automobile graphs from different locations 
  into a national data store where I can query for any car from my 
vendors. I find that several people have identified the same 
manufacturer but using different ids. I also find that essentially the 
same car has been described at more that one location for the exeption 
of its vehicle identification number (its id) with more or less detail 
from different dealers. To further complicate matters I sell car parts, 
and my parts dealers also have assigned different id's to the same 
generic part, let's say a muffler for a 1990 Chev truck.

It turns out that some vendors are more descriptive (using more 
properties in the schema) than others. When I consolidate, I would 
really like to combine the efforts of the vendors so that my part 
information in my national data store is as comprehensive as possible.

Given this scenario, what would be the best approach for consolidating 
the information as much as possible. I would appreciate comments on how 
one might accomplish this in a way that may not produce much unnecessary 
duplication in the data store. How would I deal with different ids given 
to say Ford Motor Company as a manufacturer by different vendors yet 
they all in fact are the same manufacturer.

Many thanks.
David

Received on Sunday, 22 January 2006 04:57:01 UTC