Introduction

The Semantic Web describes a web-based technology which gathers pieces of data and combines the data jointly to be viewed, queried, and/or analyzed for use.

Semantic Web technology currently provides a user with the ability to search for information stored as data. Once collected, the user makes choices about how to make connections between data points.

The Semantic Web has enhanced traditional web technology by assembling the available content, including text, images, voice, and video, into a common design for faster reuse and plasticity of the data.

Formats for the Semantic Web were built on XML technologies, and use RDF, Resource Description Framework, for data exchange. RDF is a standard for creating data files, for voice, text, images and video, in a common file format. The RDF scenario provides an uniform platform for users to discover, distribute and recombine information. This is a very important concept because presently the Web aids in viewing of documents, whereas the Semantic Web will use technologies to exchange different data types in a uniform framework. In other words, HTML is to documents what RDF is to data.

An example of how the Semantic Web works is provided by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web. Mr. Berners-Lee compares Online Bank statements as an diagram of the Semantic Web.



With Online Banking, a consumer can download statements and analyze graph trends and pull statistical data from queries. Just imagine...data from that bank statement could be superimposed over your calendar to see when you wrote the check by jumping from one domain to another. The Semantic Web will allow for dynamic manipulation of data for maximum benefit for us mere humans.

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