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RE: Semantic Web for the Masses, by the Masses

• To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>
• Subject: RE: Semantic Web for the Masses, by the Masses
• From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <len.bullard@i...>
• Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:19:26 -0600
• Cc: XML Developers List <xml-dev@l...>

It is not useful to pit the 'common' user against the 'guru'.
It is useful to compare the approaches to deriving and applying 
the ontology.

1.  A bottom up approach is effective in the same way having 
locusts harvest crops is effective:  self-directed, large 
numbers, slightly messy but fast.   A single harvester grabbing 
single rows is more expensive but may be doing other tasks along 
the way.

2.  An approach like Google Base where the initial inputs are 
examined then guided is a mix of the two approaches and likely 
to be the most effective overall as an ontological framework 
exists and mapped but the common user doesn't have to learn it.

3. The difference is a priori learning vs just-in-time commitment 
to the ontology.  A guru designs an ontology, someone designs and 
implements a mapping strategy, and the user is given a choice of 
ad hoc inputs and selections.  This is a potentially noisy approach 
but over time, it is possible to derive the statistical deviations 
and assign confidence values.

4.  Use determines application.  For some large percentage of 
cases, the mapping noise isn't significant if the application is 
search unless the return value is used for a significant process, 
the outcome of which is critical to some other process. 

To understand if and where the semantic web adds value, you must 
know the value proposition of the process(s) relying on its 
service(s).  This is where the semantic web meets service oriented 
architectures.

The common quality of webs of any kind are holes.

len

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