On Wednesday, May 29, 2002, at 05:46 PM, Lynn Andrea Stein wrote:


<excerpt>Yes, but the difference is that in "normal" parlance terms
are defined by communities of practice.  (One can argue about what the
community uses a term to mean, or about what community the term was
used with respect to, but there's no one definitive source for THE
MEANING of the term other than the community.)  In contrast, you have
suggested that authority to define the meaning of an RDF predicate IN
FACT vests with the owner of the URL.


</excerpt>

Yes. This is different from the algorithms we use for (for example)
the meaning of "vegetable" in common parlance.


However, there are some similar cases.  Some terms, such as

line 31 on the US Internal Revenue Service's 2002 1040 form,

have a well-defined authority.

If you want an answer to the semantics of that field, you ask them

because they own the term, they created it.

The same applies to the Michelin star rating on a restaurant,

except you refer to Michelin  rather than the IRS.


The ability of a body to create such terms is very important in fact.


Tim