The 'Semantic Web'
The Semantic Web is not a different technology to the World Wide Web that we have today, it is the technology that will evolve from it. Most of the Web's content today is designed for humans to read, not for computer programs to manipulate meaningfully. Computers can read web pages for layout and routine processing such as what is a 'header' and what is a 'hyperlink', but in general, computers have no reliable way to process the semantics - for example the home page of a Doctor's clinic will have the CV of the doctor, the hours that specific doctor works, the appointment times that doctor has, and the exact distance it would take for you to drive there from your house, etc. The Semantic Web will bring structure to the meaningful content of Web pages that are already here where computers can carry out these sophisticated tasks for the users automatically.
These semantics will be encoded into the Web page giving the page well-defined meaning and enabling people and computers to work together efficiently. These developments are on their way in the near future and will enable computers to process and "understand" the
data that they merely display at present.
I think this is extremely interesting and exciting as it will greatly improve the way we use the internet and technology today. What do you think? Do you think it will change our society in any way?
1 comment:
Lauren,
This explanation of the semantic web is useful. It may have been beneficial if you could have included the reference for where you gained this information from. To some extent things like the Amazon book referral could be seen to attempt to sort information for us. It could be seen as exciting....but what about the reliance on trechnology too...will we as humans forget to think?
All the best
Emma
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