Open AccessRDF ventures to boldly meet your most pedestrian needs
Author(s) -
Prud'hommeaux Eric,
Gayo Jose Emilio Labra
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
bulletin of the association for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2373-9223
DOI - 10.1002/bult.2015.1720410408
Subject(s) - rdf , rdf schema , computer science , reuse , schema (genetic algorithms) , xml , key (lock) , xml schema (w3c) , rdf/xml , resource (disambiguation) , flexibility (engineering) , database , information retrieval , data mining , document structure description , sparql , world wide web , engineering , semantic web , mathematics , computer security , document type definition , statistics , computer network , waste management
EDITOR'S SUMMARY Defined in 1999 and paired with XML, the Resource Description Framework (RDF) has been cast as an RDF Schema, producing data that is well‐structured but not validated, permitting certain illogical relationships. When stakeholders convened in 2014 to consider solutions to the data validation challenge, a W3C working group proposed Resource Shapes and Shape Expressions to describe the properties expected for an RDF node. Resistance rose from concerns about data and schema reuse, key principles in RDF. Ideally data types and properties are designed for broad use, but they are increasingly adopted with local restrictions for specific purposes. Resource Shapes are commonly treated as record classes, standing in for data structures but losing flexibility for later reuse. Of various solutions to the resulting tensions, the concept of record classes may be the most reasonable basis for agreement, satisfying stakeholders' objectives while allowing for variations with constraints.