What if two resources are the same subject?

Hi,

I have a question I just can't get my head around:

Consider this situation:

some.org issued a URL ( http://www.some.org/countries/canada ) to
identify the country Canada. This means that there now is a resource
Canada that one can, for example, GET representations of.

A bunch of people start using http://www.some.org/countries/canada to
refer to Canada in RDF statements.

On the other side of the globe another.org issued the URL
http://another.org/public/countries/Canada for exactly the same purpose
and again, people start using the URL to refer to Canada in RDF statements.

My first question is what happens when RDF statements from both camps are combined
and people start noticing that there are two resources being the same thing (Canada).

Is there any mechanism to at least note that fact? Is there an RDF schema that
provides the semantics to say that several resources actually are the same
thing?

From a Semantic Web-user's perspective: How do I find out statements about Canada?
How do I know which URL to use or supposed I know both, can I use any of them or do
I have to submit my 'questions' once for every URL?

I am really interested in what RDF/SW experts think about such issues in general
and if there are any papers etc. that deal with these or similar issues.



 
-- 
Jan Algermissen                           http://www.topicmapping.com
Consultant & Programmer	                  http://www.gooseworks.org

Received on Tuesday, 13 April 2004 13:42:15 UTC