A Semantic Web Primer (Cooperative Information Systems) (Hardcover)

~ Grigoris Antoniou (Author), Frank van Harmelen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A book we have been waiting for: a concise yet detailed introduction into the basic concepts and methods for the Semantic Web."
—Rudi Studer, Institute AIFB, University of Karlsruhe, Germany

"This book is a great introduction to the Semantic Web and in particular to the new languages (RDF Schema and OWL) that have recently become standard for it. I am using the book with my undergraduate Semantic Web class, and the students find it well written and clear. For those who want to roll up their sleeves and learn about this emerging technology, this book will be a powerful tool."
—James Hendler, Professor, Computer Science Department, University of Maryland

"This is an excellent and much needed book. It gives the reader a broad introduction to the motivation behind the Semantic Web, as well as its applications and supporting technologies."
—Ian Horrocks, Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Product Description

The development of the Semantic Web, with machine-readable content, has the potential to revolutionize the World Wide Web and its use. A Semantic Web Primer provides an introduction and guide to this emerging field, describing its key ideas, languages, and technologies. Suitable for use as a textbook or for self-study by professionals, it concentrates on undergraduate-level fundamental concepts and techniques that will enable readers to proceed with building applications on their own. It includes exercises, project descriptions, and annotated references to relevant online materials. A Semantic Web Primer is the only available book on the Semantic Web to include a systematic treatment of the different languages (XML, RDF, OWL, and rules) and technologies (explicit metadata, ontologies, and logic and inference) that are central to Semantic Web development. The book also examines such crucial related topics as ontology engineering and application scenarios. After an introductory chapter, topics covered in succeeding chapters include XML and related technologies that support semantic interoperability; RDF and RDF Schema, the standard data model for machine-processable semantics; and OWL, the W3C-approved standard for a Web ontology language more extensive than RDF Schema; rules, both monotonic and nonmonotonic, in the framework of the Semantic Web; selected application domains and how the Semantic Web would benefit them; the development of ontology-based systems; and current debates on key issues and predictions for the future.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 258 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; annotated edition edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262012103
• ISBN-13: 978-0262012102
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,136 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction, June 21, 2004

By	Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Readers will need a basic understanding of formal logic in order to get the most from this book. Also realize that some material, such as the discussion and presentation of monotonic and non-monotonic rules are still hotly contested in the semantic web community.

This book starts out with an excellent introduction in Chapter 1, titled "The Semantic Web Vision". It next begins building towards the basic elements of a semantic web by starting in familiar territory - structured web documents in XML. Many readers will be intimately familiar with this material, but I recommend reading it because the authors lay a solid foundation for subsequent chapters here.

The components and concepts of the topic are then covered in chapters devoted to:
- Describing Web Resources in RDF, which includes basic ideas, XML-based syntax, schema, and querying.
- Web Ontology Language (OWL), which introduces the OWL language, examples and future extensions. Appendix A contains Abstract OWL syntax, which augments this chapter.
- Logic and Inference, covers monotonic and non-monotonic rules, syntax, rule mark-up in XML and examples. This chapter will require an understanding of formal logic, and I also recommend additional research on the web regarding the debate about using non-monotonic rules, which has highly vocal proponents and detractors.
- Applications, a chapter of case studies from real companies, including Audi, and material on how semantic web concepts can be applied to E-learning, web services and other scenarios.
- Ontology Engineering (ontology is synonymous with taxonomy) using manual and semi-automatic methods. There is also an excellent discussion about reuse.

The web site that supports this book is rich in content that will not only augment the book, but greatly expand it. Each chapter has an associated page on the site containing PowerPoint presentations, PDF documents, and other material. The site also has a section for errata, problems and quizs if you are basing a course on this book, and additional links to resources related to the material in the book.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a look at the book's website:, June 24, 2004

By	Frank van Harmelen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

Take a look at the book's website: http://www.semanticwebprimer.org

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making sense of the Semantic Web, September 4, 2004

By	Dave Mccomb (Ft Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I was writing my book "Semantics in Business Systems" ( a more general treatment of how Semantics pertains to building application systems) I wanted to include a chapter on the Semantic Web. At the time, most of the books and web sites were either impenetrable, with their focus on formal proofs of assertions, or superficial, with grand promises of the semantic future with little "how do we get there." "A Semantic Web Primer" finally fills in the gap.

It is very clearly written, and proceeds nicely from structured documents through to RDF/RDFS and OWL. Each topic is carefully layered on top of the previous.