Abstract

This chapter focuses on modeling capabilities of OWL (Web Ontology Language). OWL provides constructs for describing information structure that will satisfy many of the outstanding requirements of FOAF (Friend of a Friend) and SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System), as well as a number of more general information integration issues. A key functionality of OWL is the ability to define restriction classes. The unnamed classes are defined based on restrictions on the values for particular properties of the class. Using this mechanism, OWL can be used to model situations in which the members of a particular class must have certain properties. In RDFS, the domain and range restrictions can allow us to make inferences about all the members of a class (such as playsFor relating a baseball player to a team). In OWL, one can use restriction statements to differentiate the case between something that applies to all members of a class versus some members, and even to insist on a particular value for a specific property of all members of a class. When restrictions are used in combination with the constructs of RDFS (Resource Description Framework Schema Language) especially rdfs:subPropertyOf and rdfs:subClassOf, and when they are cascaded with one another (restrictions referring to other restrictions), they can be used to model complex relationships between properties, classes, and individuals. The advantage of modeling relationships in this way (over informal specification) is that interactions of multiple specifications can be understood and even processed automatically.

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