ECOCLUB, Issue 92
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behavior. Ontology has meshes of meaning, i.e. standardized expressions of meaning. So, usually hierarchical structures of terms are
related to predefined associations. Of course the definition of subclasses is the most common way of establishing a hierarchy, i.e. a
specialization of the terms. Some examples from the area of tourism may clarify these explanations, i.e.
Travel type (cruises, adventure trips, wellness, culture, etc)
Tourism intermediaries (travel agent, tour operator, agent, etc)
Type of traveler (seniors travelers, travelers with children, disabled travelers, etc)
Geographical entities (countries, regions, cities, etc)
Accommodation (reservations, camping, hostels, private rooms, pensions, hotels, etc)
After these very accurate and impressive examples for tourism, the field of collaborative networks was examined. Here, business
strategies, business models and business processes must be followed. For example, are trust issues components of business
strategies? Respectively what are the components of trust issues (i.e. security, potential competitors)? Are these trust issue
components ‘is of’ or ‘part of’ relationships? Are there really clear distinctions between these subclasses or do some subclasses
overlap? All these issues must be dealt with, where as a special effort will be made to find out if RDF/OWL is the correct formal
language for this area of collaborative networks.
Semantic Web
The goal of the Semantic Web initiative is to create a universal medium for the exchange of data where data can be shared and
processed by automated tools as well as by people. For the Web to scale, tomorrow's programs must be able to share and process data
even when these programs have been designed totally independently. The Semantic Web will smoothly interconnect personal
information management, enterprise application integration, and the global sharing of commercial, scientific and cultural data.
Facilities to put machine-understandable data on the Web are quickly becoming a high priority for organisations, individuals and
communities. The Semantic Web will structure the meaningful content of Web pages, creating an environment where Software
Agents roaming from page to page can readily carry out sophisticated tasks on behalf of users. The Semantic Web is not a separate
Web but an extension of the current one, in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people
to work in cooperation.
Three important technologies for developing the Semantic Web are already in place: eXtensible Markup Language (XML), the
Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Ontology Web Language (OWL) as Ontology vocabulary. See following Figure 1.
Figure 1
Semantic Web Layers (Berners-Lee, 2001)
Ontology
Assume a user asks a Web Search Engine for Safari, whereby he means in fact safari adventure. He would get at least
twenty two thousand answers for this query. These answers would include not only safari adventures, but also announcements of an
internet browser named Safari, a model of Land Rover called Safari, a subscription service for electronic access to books, and so on.
Figure 2
Ontology Example
