Semantic Wikis: from the Web to the Semantic Web

Author(s)

Jaider Andrade Ferreira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Marília. 2014-08-08.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências. Marília
• Defense date: 2014-07-30
• Advisor: Plácida Leopoldina Ventura Amorim da Costa Santos

Abstract

Due to the development of Information and Communication Technologies, Information Science has been forced to rethink the traditional posture of information management. Hypertext, arising mainly through the Web environment, further increased the complexity of the information handling. The popularization of the Internet has led the Web to a more interactive and a more collaborative environment, bringing wiki systems, for example, to manage information in a collaborative way. Conceived by Tim Berners-Lee, there is the Semantic Web initiative in which machines are able to analyze data on the network. In this context, semantic wikis arise: wikis characterized by the use of Semantic Web technologies. Therefore, we believe that Information Science, which cares about the development of the Web and the Semantic Web, should also care about semantic wikis. Thus, by a descriptive and an exploratory research, the objective is to explore, to present and to describe the characteristics of the semantic wikis on the activities of representation, retrieval and exchange of information supported by Semantic Web technologies in order to facilitate the understanding, the discussion, and the use of these technologies in digital information environments. After a presentation about the origins of the Semantic Web, we highlight the data representation, encoding, description, relation, and query standards (URI, XML, RDF, RDFS, OWL and SPARQL) which, with other technologies, form the basis of the Semantic Web and support the functioning of semantic wikis. Semantic wikis are presented and defined as wiki systems that use Semantic Web technologies in order to incorporate formalized knowledge, content, structure and links on their pages. After that, we describe the main activities for information description, retrieval and interchange on Semantic MediaWiki, the most popular and most used semantic wiki engine so far. As conclusion, we consider that semantic wikis can promote understanding, discussions, and use of Semantic Web technologies in digital information environments. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/15085-6 - Semantic wikis: from social web to Semantic Web
• Grantee: Jaider Andrade Ferreira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master