If HTML and the Web made all the online documents look like one huge book, RDF, schema, and inference languages will make all the data in the world look like one huge database --- Weaving the Web, 1999.
Much has been written of late about the Semantic Web and the new functionality it promises in bringing data resources to the Web. Articles in the scholarly literature have discussed the promise of complex knowledge structures brought to the Web, and articles in the newspapers have discussed how it promises to be a Web 3.0 of entrepeneurial riches. However, these many write-ups have missed one of the most important aspects of the Semantic Web -- it's a rich new playground for open-source Web tools and applications reminiscent, in many ways, of the early days of the World Wide Web.
In this one week "boot camp" we will have morning lectures and optional, but recommended, afternoon practicums aimed at providing a hands-on experience of this new technology. In this learn-by-doing week, students will get a feel for Semantic Web "hacking" at its best.
| Objective | Learn enough about semantic web technology to use it in other projects, and export existing data into standard formats. Practical work optional and recommended. |
|---|---|
| Instructors | Tim Berners-Lee with Jim Hendler, m c schreafel, Danny Weitzner |
| Audience | Students, ugrad to grad students, or MIT IT staff in libraries, CSAIL groups, scientific groups, etc. |
| Prerequisites | If you don't have a laptop running Mac OS X or Linux or *nix , and
some place in web space you can publish files to, then negotiate with timbl@w3.org
before taking the course. Programming basic skills, use of unix command line, etc Email if unsure timbl@w3.org. |
| Format | Lectures each morning 9-12 in room 32-124. Clinic every afternoon 2-5 in W3C open space (32-G-515) for those who want to bring their laptop and hack, with some supervision for problems. |
| More information | http://dig.csail.mit.edu/2007/01/camp/ |
| Course Wiki (slides, notes, etc.) | http://esw.w3.org/topic/BootCamp |
| Registration | Yes - just send an email with 2 lines about who you are to Tim Berners-Lee (timbl+iap@w3.org). |
| January 2007 | Morning 9-12 lecture Classroom 32-124 |
Afternoon clinic 2pm-5pm DIG open space in 32-G-515 |
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| Monday 1/8 Basic Semantic Web data model | What is the semantic web? 30,000 ft overview. Using URIs in the semantic web (first part) # versus / and HTTP 303 responses Notation 3 syntax. Relation to RDF/XML | Making a FOAF file Find terms on the web to make as much useful public information about yourself available as data Write in N3. Install cwm. Convert to RDF and publish |
| Tuesday 1/9 Ontology |
Homework review: Using tabulator to test/show FOAF files (30 mins)
RDF Schema Web Ontology Language (basics only) Build or buy? re-use of terms | Make an ontology for a set example such as contact book, bibtex, mit course, etc or (ideally) from an application from your work/study place |
| Wednesday 1/10 Real/Legacy data |
Using URIs in the semantic web (second part: persistence) Examples of techniques out there for mapping existing data. (GRDDL, XSLT, DBView, DRRServer, RDFa, ...) N3 Rules. Rules and the Web |
Make more interesting data available in RDF. You have MIT community access to the MIT data warehouse. Run a service providing a subset of that data as a RDF linked data (and/or SPARQL) service and demo it using the tabulator. Demonstrate the integration by following links through at least two applications. |
| Thursday 1/11 Rules, Provennace and Trust |
Matters arising from clinic
The PIT system demo: Rules with user interface (JH). Privacy and transparency (Danny Weitzner) * Time-varying data. (TBL) | |
| Friday 1/12 Semantic Web User Interface |
Using Tabulator. Tabulator internals 30,000ft Provenvance - in tabulator, in rules. Tabulator's lookup algorithms: linked data Challenges of Semantic Web user interfaces (m c schraefel)* What else is happening on the Semantic Web? | Make an address book application using the tabulator library (for example)
* Say if you are interested in a longer optional presentation
If you wish to get a head start on the course, for things to run more smoothly, you could scan the following, and install python on your laptop (if not already there), and then cwm.
Slide sets from the talks (not exactly in order given)
Semantic Web Tutorial Using N3
Wiki page of related materials