Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist: Effective Modeling in RDFS and OWL (Paperback)

~ (Author), James Hendler (Author)
Key Phrases: assembly center, semantic modeling, description logic, Semantic Web, James Dean, Open World (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Missing Link: Hendler and Allemangs new book is exactly what our industry is looking for. We have many introductory books, and some compilations of papers but very little to help a practitioner move up their experience curve from novice to journeyman ontologist. The book is very readable; the examples are plentiful and easily understandable. Ive already been recommending students and clients pre-order this book - David McComb, President, Semantic Arts, Inc. This is by far the best introduction to the semantic web currently available, from a practitioners point of view. There are meaty examples that move beyond the theory and hype. You will get a clear understanding of what RDF, RDF Schema and OWL are all about both in terms of what they are and how to use them. You will learn a variety of hard-nosed and hard-won practical guidelines gained from years of experience building and deploying ontologies in the trenches? Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist fills a much needed gap in the literature. It represents an impressive collection and synthesis of a wide variety of sources that have hitherto been scattered among academic books and papers, W3C working group notes, talks, blogs and email discussion groups. I expect to refer to this book often. - Dr. Michael Uschold, Internationally recognized expert in ontologies and semantic web technologies both in academia and industry.

At the time when the world needs to find consensus on a wide range of subjects, publication of this book carries special importance. Crossing over East-West cultural differences, I hope semantic web technology contributes to bridge different ontologies and helps build the foundation for consensus towards the global community. - Toru Ishida, Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University Yoshida-Honmachi

Despite all the excitement about the Semantic Web, the principles of actually using Semantic Web standards to create useful applications have been buried in tedious documents and e-mail threads. This volumewritten by two leaders in the Semantic Web community who represent perfectly the academic and the industrial perspectivemakes the arcane knowledge needed to build intelligent Web applications accessible and understandable. This is a great introduction to the Semantic Web and its associated knowledge-representation standards. More important, the book shows how to use the standards, and does so in a lively and lucid way. - Mark A. Musen, Professor of Medicine and Computer Science, Stanford University; Director, the National Center for Biomedical Ontology; Director, the Protégé Project

"Semantics are no longer contained to the realm of theorists but are now being applied to help large leaning-forward organizations wrestle with information discovery and reuse. Here is a practical guide written for those who are seeking insight on techniques for real-world applications." Andrew Schain, Visiting researcher, Maryland Information and Network Dynamtics Laboratory --David McComb, President, Semantic Arts, Inc.;Toru Ishida, Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University Yoshida-Honmachi

Review

"The Missing Link: Hendler and Allemang's new book is exactly what our industry is looking for. We have many introductory books, and some compilations of papers but very little to help a practitioner move up their experience curve from novice to journeyman ontologist. The book is very readable; the examples are plentiful and easily understandable. I've already been recommending students and clients pre-order this book" - David McComb, President, Semantic Arts, Inc. www.semanticarts.com

"This is by far the best introduction to the semantic web currently available, from a practitioner's point of view. There are meaty examples that move beyond the theory and hype. You will get a clear understanding of what RDF, RDF Schema and OWL are all about - both in terms of what they are and how to use them. You will learn a variety of hard-nosed and hard-won practical guidelines gained from years of experience building and deploying ontologies "in the trenches"? Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist fills a much needed gap in the literature. It represents an impressive collection and synthesis of a wide variety of sources that have hitherto been scattered among academic books and papers, W3C working group notes, talks, blogs and email discussion groups. I expect to refer to this book often." - Dr. Michael Uschold, Internationally recognized expert in ontologies and semantic web technologies both in academia and industry.

"At the time when the world needs to find consensus on a wide range of subjects, publication of this book carries special importance. Crossing over East-West cultural differences, I hope semantic web technology contributes to bridge different ontologies and helps build the foundation for consensus towards the global community." - Toru Ishida, Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University Yoshida-Honmachi

"Despite all the excitement about the Semantic Web, the principles of actually using Semantic Web standards to create useful applications have been buried in tedious documents and e-mail threads. This volume-written by two leaders in the Semantic Web community who represent perfectly the academic and the industrial perspective-makes the arcane knowledge needed to build intelligent Web applications accessible and understandable. This is a great introduction to the Semantic Web and its associated knowledge-representation standards. More important, the book shows how to use the standards, and does so in a lively and lucid way." - Mark A. Musen, Professor of Medicine and Computer Science, Stanford University; Director, the National Center for Biomedical Ontology; Director, the Protégé Project

"Semantics are no longer contained to the realm of theorists but are now being applied to help large leaning-forward organizations wrestle with information discovery and reuse. Here is a practical guide written for those who are seeking insight on techniques for real-world applications." - Andrew Schain, Visiting researcher, Maryland Information and Network Dynamtics Laboratory

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann (May 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0123735564
• ISBN-13: 978-0123735560
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,329 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a good textbook, June 22, 2009

By	David C. Hay "Dave" (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are maybe half a dozen or so books in my library that have defined the body of knowledge that has been the subject of my career. All the others are interesting (or not) but not the definitive description of the subject. It is very rare when a new one comes along. But when one does succinctly and clearly define and describe a subject area I have been struggling to master for several years, this is worth celebrating.

This is such a book. For the last several years, I have been studying OWL and the Semantic Web, recognizing that there is something there that is important. But it's been a struggle to get on top of it. For example, the books I've found so far (and indeed, the OWL specification itself) describes the language in terms of XML. That's ok, and I was able to understand bits and pieces of it. And I did get the fundamental difference between semantic modeling as done in OWL and semantic modeling as I have been doing with entity/relationship modeling. But I never really felt comfortable that I "got it".

This book, however, very clearly starts at the beginning and takes the reader through the steps required to understand not just the languages involved, but why they are important and why they are significant to the Semantic Web. Indeed this is the first time I can say that I really understand the semantic web.

One of the reviews complains that the book doesn't go far enough. Perhaps not. But if you are looking for a place not just to start your education and to get a through grounding in fundamental concepts, this is the book for you.

I strongly recommend this book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for all who want to get into the semantic web, June 5, 2008

By	Henry Story "bblfish" (MPK20) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Finally a book that explains the key aspects of the Semantic Web in easy to understand language, with well thought out examples and taking a step by step approach to this eminently stackable technology. No RDF/XML in the whole book! This will save all who get started on the semantic web years of work hunting down specs, and will give them the right initial intuitions.

A God send! Buy one for yourself and one for your friends too :-)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a book that gets down to work, June 15, 2008

By	G. Niram (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It used to be that the only books about the Semantic Web were either theoretical treatises requiring advanced mathematical training or marketing pep-rallies. Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist fills the gap in between by providing a down-to-earth description of this important technology, describing how it can be used to provide real business value.

Allemang and Hendler accomplish this without relying on a lot of mathematical mumbo-jumbo--the first mention of the confusing OWL 'species' doesn't come until Chapter 13. You can get a lot of work done before you even start to worry about the technical details of logic.

Parts of the book are accessible to a general audience, and the whole book is accessible to anyone with some sort of analytic background, not just logicians and computer scientists. This book has something for beginners (even if this is the first time you've heard of the semantic web) as well as for experienced practitioners.