Bibliography on IST-Ontoweb (2017-06-06)

Different knowledge representation languages can be used for different semantic web applications. Exchanging knowledge thus requires specific techniques established on a semantic ground. We present the `family of languages' approach based on a set of knowledge representation languages whose partial ordering depends on the transformability from one language to another by preserving a particular property. For the same set of languages, there can be several such structures based on the property selected for structuring the family. Properties of different strength allow performing practicable but well founded transformations. The approach offers the choice of the language in which a representation will be imported and the composition of available transformations between the members of the family.

The World Wide Web has been the main source of an important shift in the way people get information and order services. However, the current Web is aimed at people only. The Semantic Web is a Web defined and linked in a way that it can be used by machines not just for display purposes, but also for automation, integration and reuse of data across various applications. Facilities and technologies to put machine understandable data on the Web are rapidly becoming a high priority for many communities. In order for computers to provide more help to people, the Semantic Web augments the current Web with formalized knowledge and data that can be processed by computers. It thus needs a language for expressing knowledge. This knowledge is used to describe the content of information sources, through ontologies, and the condition of operation of Web services. One of the challenges of the current Semantic Web development is the design of a framework that allows these resources to interoperate. This book presents the state of the art in the development of the principles and technologies that will allow for the Semantic Web to become a reality. It contains revised versions of a selection of papers presented at the International Semantic Web Working Symposium that address the issues of languages, ontologies, services, and interoperability.

Exchanging knowledge via the web might lead to the use of different representation languages because different applications could take advantage of this knowledge. In order to function properly, the interoperability of these languages must be established on a semantic ground (i.e., based on the models of the representations). Several solutions can be used for ensuring this interoperability. We present a new approach based on a set of knowledge representation languages partially ordered with regard to the transformability from one language to another by preserving a particular property. The advantages of the family of languages approach are the opportunity to choose the language in which a representation will be imported and the possibility to compose the transformations available between the members of the family. For the same set of languages, there can be several structures depending on the property used for structuring the family. We focus here on semantic properties of different strength that allow us to perform practicable but well founded transformations.

Semantic interoperability is the faculty of interpreting knowledge imported from other languages at the semantic level, i.e. to ascribe to each imported piece of knowledge the correct interpretation or set of models. It is a very important requirement for delivering a worldwide semantic web. This paper presents preliminary investigations towards developing a unified view of the problem. It proposes a definition of semantic interoperability based on model theory and shows how it applies to already existing works in the domain. Then, new applications of this definition to family of languages, ontology patterns and explicit description of semantics are presented.

Description logics have been designed and studied in a modular way. This has allowed a methodic approach to complexity evaluation. We present a way to preserve this modularity in encoding description logics in XML and show how it can be used for building modular transformations and assembling them easily.

The problem of integrating different ontology languages has become of special interest recently, especially in the context of semantic web applications. In the paper, we present an approach that is based on the configuration of a joint language all other languages can be translated into. We use description logics as a basis for constructing this common language taking advantage of the modular character and the availability of profound theoretical results in this area. We give the central definitions and exemplify the approach using example ontologies available on the Web.