Customer Reviews

A Semantic Web Primer (Cooperative Information Systems)

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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.

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

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.

Thanks to this book I now have new found confidence on the subject of the semantic web. "A semantic Web Primer" takes the reader for a fast trip around the key concepts which underlie the subject and then goes on to help the reader develop an understanding of the key tools and applications which make this technology actually work. The book lays out why expertise in this area is useful very clearly - and in itself this is valuable and very useful.
Chapter One of the book sets out the basic concepts clearly. It explains the need for semantic Web technologies and also explains, with useful examples, exactly how this could work and what we could gain from it in terms of access to relevant, timely and accurate information. The authors set out the role of ontologies in the development of the semantic Web and also emphasize a very practical and evolutionary view of the potential future for the semantic Web. This chapter makes it very clear that we are not dealing with a single technology but with a set of tools and technologies, that these need to be actively taken forward and that they will require integration and development over time to realize the potential that the authors describe.
Chapters 2 through 5 deal with the specific tools and technologies that can take the semantic Web from an abstract idea to a functioning tool, providing a guide to XML, RDF, OWL and rules in the context of the development of the semantic Web. These are not detailed tutorial chapters and the authors point to a set of resources for very specific and detailed knowledge on all of these areas for those who want or need them.
Chapter 6 gives some examples of the use of semantic Web technologies - primarily in data integration - as well as charting out a few key areas where the authors believe that impacts can and will be made in the medium term. The examples are well chosen and the chapter provides a convincing case for the development of the technologies and techniques in these areas, while acknowledging that there is a long way to go before the state of the art advances to the point where the benefits will be realized on any large scale.
Chapter 7 provides a practical guide to the development of ontologies and also provides a guide to resources which can be used to help the reader actually develop an ontology for a given area. A practical task is given at the end of the chapter which should form the basis of a useful project for anyone who wants to get hands-on experience with the concepts and available tools. Actually, this book has exercises and smaller projects at the end of each chapter.
Chapter 8 effectively poses the question 'Where next?' - but doesn't answer it in any detail. Instead, the chapter presents a brief guide to the issues which need to be resolved and expresses the view that the semantic Web will form a part of our future development of the World Wide Web.
In summary this is a useful guide and a source of some much needed clarification on the semantic Web. The authors successfully describe the main concepts and provide a guide to the key tools and technologies. They emphasize the range of technologies and the need for successful integration of them. They also emphasize the complexity of overall development in the semantic web and the need for active involvement and development if we are to see this ambitious development succeed.
Amazon does not show the table of contents so I do that here:
1 THE SEMANTIC WEB VISION 1
Today's Web; From Today's Web to the Semantic Web: Examples; Semantic Web Technologies; A Layered Approach; Book Overview; Summary; Suggested Reading;

2 STRUCTURED WEB DOCUMENTS IN XML 23
Introduction; The XML Language; Structuring; Namespaces; Addressing and Querying XML Documents; Processing; Summary; Suggested Reading; Exercises and Projects;

3 DESCRIBING WEB RESOURCES RDF 61
Introduction; RDF: Basic Ideas; RDF: XML-Based Syntax; RDF Schema: Basic Ideas; RDF Schema: The Language; RDF and RDF Schema in RDF Schema; An Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDF Schema; A Direct Inference System for RDF and RDFS; Querying in RQL; Summary; Suggested Reading; Exercises and Projects;

4 WEB ONTOLOGY LANGUAGE: OWL 109
Introduction; The OWL Language; Examples; OWL in OWL; Future Extensions; Summary; Suggested Reading; Exercises and Projects;

5 LOGIC AND INFERENCE: Rules 151
Introduction; Example of Monotonic Rules: Family Relationships; Monotonic Rules: Syntax; Monotonic Rules: Semantics; Nonmonotonic Rules: Motivation and Syntax; Example of Nonmonotonic Rules: Brokered Trade; Rule Markup in XML: Monotonic Rules; Rule Markup in XML: Nonmonotonic Rules; Summary; Suggested Reading; Exercises and Projects;

6 APPLICATIONS 179
Introduction; Horizontal Information Products at Elsevier; Data Integration at Audi; Skill Finding at Swiss Life; Think Tank Portal at EnerSearch; e-Learning; Web Services; Other Scenarios; Suggested Reading;

7 ONTOLOGY ENGINEERING 205
Introduction; Constructing Ontologies Manually; Reusing Existing Ontologies; Using Semiautomatic Methods; On-To-Knowledge Semantic Web Architecture; Suggested Reading; Project;

8 CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK 223
How It All Fits Together; Some Technical Questions; Predicting the Future;

Appendix Abstract OWL syntax 227
Index 235

<em>A Semantic Web Primer</em>, by Grigoris Antoniou and Frank van Harmelen, achieves just what it sets out to achieve: to be a useful undergraduate introduction to the semantic Web. This actually has much broader applicability, because, in the words of the authors':

"The question arises whether there is a need for [such an introductory undergraduate] textbook, given that all information is available online. We think there is a need because on the Web there are too many sources of varying quality and too much information. Some information is valid, some outdated, some wrong, and most sources talk about obscure details. Anyone who is a newcomer and wishes to learn something about the Semantic Web, or who wishes to set up a course on the Semantic Web, is faced with these problems. This book is meant to help out."

I obtained the book for that very same purpose, and it does provide a fairly useful basis for self-study for the layperson practitioner. It also contains exercises at the end of each section making it useful for course teaching.

The book proceeds from a general discussion of the semantic Web and progresses through XML to XML Schema, XPath and XSL and XSLT, then the RDF and RDF Schema frameworks, on to then OWL and predicate logic, applications, example uses and ontologies and possible future developments. The progression builds in line with Tim Berner-Lee's "layer" cake diagram and explains concepts clearly and well.

But it is a prettly slim volume. After removal of blank pages, listings of markup code and accounting for wide white space margins, there are perhaps only 110 pages of useful content in the whole volume.

The references at the end of each section are excellent and will be important follow-on reading for serious students.

I think -- as an introductory guide and as a quick way to cut through all of the overlapping and confusing resources on the Web -- that this hardcover book deserves attention. But it does not, unfortunately, alone constitute the one-stop introductory resource it could have been. After reading this, it is time to move on to the more detailed section references. I actually suspect that it will also be little consulted as a reference source on the shelf.

But, if you have been wanting a pretty good global, easy introduction to the semantic Web, this is probably worth your purchase.

As someone new to the concept of semantic technology and, specifically the Semantic Web, "A Semantic Web Primer" was a good introduction into the technical components (XML, RDF, OWL, etc) and theoretical components (description, predicate logics, etc) of this area. I particularly enjoyed the robust "Suggested Reading" sections that the author placed at the end of each chapter, as they pointed me to other resources if I wanted to learn more about a particular subject.

It was clear to me from the beginning of the book, but especially at the last chapters, that the contents were put together in haste. Glaring errors in both grammar and spelling sometimes made it impossible to understand the topics covered in the application of semantic technology as well as Ontology Engineering. Let me give you a simple example of what I mean. The first sentence of the "Ontology Engineering" chapter begins as follows:

'In this book, we have focused mainly on the techniques that are essential to the Semantic Web: representation languages, query languages, transformation and inference techniques, tools.'

The final two chapters seem to have been written by an author for which English is NOT his or her first language. Actually, I found it appalling that a published work such as this could be replete with so many of these kinds of errors. For a book about semantics, one would think that an additional effort would be made to ensure that the contents are clear and concise. So, although the first chapters provide meaningful information on the components of semantic technology, the final chapters were so full of grammatical and, yes, semantic, errors as to make their contents extremely difficult to understand.

I really found this book very well written. I had no idea about Semantic Web when I bought this book but after finishing reading the last page of the book ,I got enough knowledge to start my research thesis on Semantic Web Technologies.

The book needs a lot of editing, a lot. I found the errors distracting. Terms appear from nowhere and are never explained. Don't bother using the index, it does not line up with the pages. How do you return a defective book!

This book is clearly organized and steps you through the technologies and ideas underlying the semantic web. Starts out with some basic concepts about the semantic web, goes on to describe XML -> RDF -> OWL -> logic/inference. It wraps it up with some examples and ontology engineering.

Great introduction with enough references to help the more advanced reader find what they're looking for.

Hello,

Rather harsh correction, I'd say, Mr. "_x".

An ontology is merely a kind of (type of, subclass of, ... pick your term of choice) taxonomy. Any taxonomy always has principles of organization, even if the logical principles are inconsistent. Otherwise all biological taxa would be exercises in futility, for instance. Are you suggesting that everyone from Aristotle to Linnaeus to modern day biologists/taxonomists are morons?

Now let's get back to that big word you threw out there: subsumption. You precede this with the statement, "No sound reasoning is possible in a taxonomy." As opposed to an ontology? For sound reasoning in all cases, a logic must be both decidable and consistent. First order logic is neither -- we can thank Kurt Godel for this unfortunate predicament. In other words, subsumption is sound (consistent and decidable) only for certain subsets of first order logic.

So if subsumption in a given ontology is as expressive as first order logic, technically, you lose all the sound principles for organizing the hierarchy, and you're back to being a taxonomy.

Ah, ..., amateur ontologists are indeed the bane of a taxonomist's existence ... :-)

Cheers,
Sunit.

PS. My apologies to the gentle reader for not posting a review of the book (which was recommended by someone who's judgment I respect), and instead getting into an old-fashioned "flame-war," but I didn't want you to not buy this book because someone claiming to be an expert turns out to be just whingeing.