Semantic Web For Dummies [Paperback]

Jeffrey T. Pollock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0470396792 | ISBN-13: 978-0470396797 | Edition: 1

Semantic Web technology is already changing how we interact with data on the Web. By connecting random information on the Internet in new ways, Web 3.0, as it is sometimes called, represents an exciting online evolution.

Whether you’re a consumer doing research online, a business owner who wants to offer your customers the most useful Web site, or an IT manager eager to understand Semantic Web solutions, Semantic Web For Dummies is the place to start! It will help you:

• Know how the typical Internet user will recognize the effects of the Semantic Web
• Explore all the benefits the data Web offers to businesses and decide whether it’s right for your business
• Make sense of the technology and identify applications for it
• See how the Semantic Web is about data while the “old” Internet was about documents
• Tour the architectures, strategies, and standards involved in Semantic Web technology
• Learn a bit about the languages that make it all work: Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL)
• Discover the variety of information-based jobs that could become available in a data-driven economy

You’ll also find a quick primer on tech specifications, some key priorities for CIOs, and tools to help you sort the hype from the reality. There are case studies of early Semantic Web successes and a list of common myths you may encounter. Whether you’re incorporating the Semantic Web in the workplace or using it at home, Semantic Web For Dummies will help you define, develop, implement, and use Web 3.0.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Get up to speed on the most exciting evolution in the history of the Internet

Meet the Web of tomorrow — today! The Semantic Web completely changes how we interact with data in the vastness of the Internet. So whether you're a consumer doing research online, a business owner who wants to offer your customers the most useful Web site, or an IT manager eager to understand Semantic Web solutions, this book is the place to start!

• What's Web 3.0? — explore how the Internet has evolved and where it's going

• Change is coming — know how the typical Internet user will recognize the effects of the Semantic Web

• Data or documents? — see how the Semantic Web is about data while the "old" Internet was about documents

• It's business — explore the data Web's many benefits to businesses

• Speak the language — get into the languages that make it all work: Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL)

• Jobs, jobs, jobs — sneak a peek at the variety of information workers that will be needed in our data-driven economy

• Some geeky stuff — tour the architectures, strategies, and standards involved in Semantic Web technology

• Already there — look at existing Semantic Web sites

Open the book and find:

• What defines Web 3.0

• A quick primer on tech specifications

• How business will change as the Semantic Web takes hold

• Ten common Semantic Web myths

• How to sort the hype from the reality

• Interesting case studies of early Semantic Web successes

• Key priorities for CIOs

• How familiar technologies fit with the Semantic Web

About the Author

Jeffrey T. Pollock is a software industry veteran whose startup experience and standards community leadership have helped the Semantic Web go from ivory tower to industrial strength. Currently he manages the data integration product portfolio for Oracle and consults with key clients about their Semantic Web strategies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470396792
• ISBN-13: 978-0470396797
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anybody interested in the Future of the Web March 27, 2009

By Joel Natividad

Format:Paperback

The Semantic Web is the logical next step in the evolution of the ENTIRE Web, and this book makes a strong case why its not all hype and a pipe-dream as some detractors would put it.

And Jeff Pollock knows what he's talking about. A well-known figure in Semantic Web circles, he also manages Fusion - Oracle's middleware solution for the enterprise.

In it, he clearly explains what's wrong with the current state of the Web, and how we manage and produce data in general. He shows how Semantic technologies can clear the way for computers and systems not only in helping us produce (and drown ourselves) in a sea of data, but actually help us consume and find information in it.

Despite the "for Dummies" pejorative, the text is actually quite useful even for veteran Semantic Web followers. It gives a grand (though necessarily abbreviated) tour of all the foundation standards and technologies in the context of their applications in everyday life and behind the corporate firewall.

For a corporate practitioner like myself that has long struggled with abstract, academic examples, the book is a long-awaited addition that will help me evangelize the promise of "the grand database in the sky".

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars I feel like a Dummy for buying this book January 26, 2010

By Chris Williams

Format:Paperback

I should have known this book would suck. I have never had great luck with the "For Dummies," but I was itching to get a Semantic Web book while I was in a Borders brick and mortar store so I rolled the dice. Big mistake. The author managed to pump enough BS into the book that it takes until half-way-in before you see your first RDF triple. He repeats himself incessantly. This sort of writing really pisses me off because it comes off like the author is just trying to fill pages... well guess what, it wastes my time! His explanations of relational databases and object oriented programming (a) don't belong in the book, (b) long, and (c) are poor. He comes off like a total academic with no real-world experience. This guy sounds like the type of professor I really really hate.

I have only ever reviewed one other product, but I am trying to shop for a real tech book and couldn't pass up the opportunity to review this as I'm thumbing through amazon's pages.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Start Your Semantic Web Journey Here March 30, 2010

By Tom Provenzano

Format:Paperback

Semantic Web for Dummies is a wide-ranging look at the Semantic Web (also known as Web 3.0) that will open your mind to the potential of this new era in web development. Mr. Pollock's book is an intelligent and informative explanation of this software technology. Although not an in-depth programming book - it provides an excellent overview of the salient features of Web 3.0. First off, while I, too, am an Oracle employee, as is Mr. Pollock, I have never met him or communicated with him in any way.

I had previously read a couple of articles on the subject but didn't really see the big picture and felt pretty clueless as to what it exactly is and why it matters (definition of a "dummy", I guess); so l was looking for a single source to stitch it all together and get me started on the semantic web journey. This book fits the bill nicely. Pollock arms you with a solid understanding of what core technologies make up the Semantic Web.
As Pollock explains, key to understanding what differentiates the Semantic Web from previous web development is that it creates a "data web"; i.e., webs of data that are interconnected, accessible and logically analyzable and, thus, of benefit to users. That's really the "why" of the semantic web.
Semantic Web for Dummies includes chapters on the core "languages", RDF (Resource Description Framework) and OWL (Web Ontology Language); other chapters explain metadata and ontologies. Part IV, entitled, "Putting the Semantic Web to Work" brings the Semantic Web's utility into the business world touching on enterprise and software development issues including the key aspect of building a knowledge-base incorporating both system management and security issues. Proving he understands the implementation risks facing any implementer using new technology, Pollock also provides a chapter outlining the limitations of the Semantic Web for business development. The book points you to both open source and proprietary semantic tools and current web sites using semantic technologies.

I'd say that after reading this book, I'm not a Semantic Web expert, but I'm no longer a dummy.