Archive for the ‘Semantic Web’ Category

Ed Oswald at Extreme Tech writes an elucidating article Demystifying Semantic Search. If you’ve been wondering about this new trend in search technology but aren’t certain exactly what it is, you’ll want to check out this article which discusses Google, Bing, and Wolfram Alpha.

“Web searchers these days are a sophisticated bunch. We expect more from our search results, and sometimes a list of links just doesn’t cut it. Plus, who wants to muddle around those results trying to find precisely what you’re looking for? Shouldn’t a search engine know what you want? That’s why search engines, including heavy hitters such as Google and Bing, are beginning to look for ways to get you the information you want more quickly.

The latest attempt to make search results more relevant is by peering into the meaning of your search query itself. This is called semantic search.”

Eric Hellman writes an excellent article on the Semantic Web, Facebook, and Liking Library Data on his Go to Hellman blog. The post discusses Facebook’s use of structured data, their Open Graph Protocol (OGP), and how libraries can use this to make their holdings more findable on the Web.

“Social networking websites have made us all aware of the value of modeling aspects of our daily lives in graph databases, even if we don’t realize that’s what we’re doing. Since the “semantic web” is predicated on the idea that ALL knowledge can be usefully represented as a giant, global graph, it’s perhaps not so surprising that the most familiar, and most widely implemented application of semantic web technologies has been Facebook’s “Like” button.”

Erica Swallow at Mashable writes about How Semantic Search Is Redefining Traditional & Social Media. This thoughtful article looks the evolution of the semantic Web and the role that search will play as social sites integrate semantic technologies.

“Semantics, the study of meaning, is playing an increasingly important role in the development of knowledge management tools across a variety of industries, and some of the most interesting developments are coming from the media world.

Semantic search is one broad area within the higher realm of semantic technologies, which also includes knowledge storage, information extraction and reasoning, among other topics. The goal of semantic search is to improve search result accuracy by understanding the searcher’s intent and the contextual relationships between the terms used in the search.”

The Tech section of the NewScientist has published an article by Jim Giles titled Google, Twitter and Facebook Build the Semantic Web.

“The moves by Facebook and Twitter could change the very nature of how we interact with the web. Software writers will be able to build applications that search for bars and restaurants your Facebook friends have enjoyed, or movies and books your Twitter contacts say were over-hyped. Facebook’s involvement should help overcome one of the biggest hurdles faced by the semantic web – persuading website owners to tag their content.”