CSE 497: The Semantic Web, Fall 2003

Professor Jeff Heflin

TTh 2:35-3:50pm, Coppee Hall 105

Course News

Regularly check here for updates about the class.

Course Description

The Internet is on the verge of another revolution. The development of the World Wide Web made the Internet accessible to millions by making it easy for anyone to publish and access documents on the Internet. However, the explosive growth of the Web has led to the problem of information overload. Researchers from industry and academia are now exploring the possibility of creating a "Semantic Web," in which meaning is made explicit, allowing machines to process and integrate Web resources intelligently. Beyond enabling quick and accurate web search, this technology may also allow the development of intelligent internet agents and facilitate communication between a multitude of heterogeneous web-accessible devices. In this class, we will examine this exciting area by reading and discussing both existing web specifications and cutting-edge research papers. Topics will include the design of various Semantic Web languages (such as XML, RDF, SHOE, DAML+OIL and OWL), the role of ontologies, and issues in developing semantic-aware applications.

For details about course content, grading, assignments, and office hours, see the class syllabus.

Assignments

Each assignment will be made available here after they are handed out in class. The online versions of the assignments are in HTML or PDF format.

Readings

Your readings will be listed below as they are assigned. Readings marked STSW are from our textbook, "Spinning the Semantic Web." We will also read supplementary papers and technical specifications, and I provide links to online versions of these documents. Usually this is in HTML or PDF format, although a few papers are in PostScript or Compressed PostScript format. Also, each reading assignment is followed by a reference (in brackets) that links to the complete citation for the paper. The citations for the entire reading list can be found here.

TaskDue
Read STWS Ch. 1 (pp. 1-25)
Read The Semantic Web [BHL01]
8/28
Read A Technical Introduction to XML [Wal98]
Read XML 1.0 Recommendation [BPS00]
9/2
Read XML Namespaces by Example [Bra99]
Read Namespaces in XML [BHL99]
Read Xerces Java: Quick Start [CER03]
9/4
Read STWS Ch. 6 (pp. 171-194) 9/9
Read STWS Ch. 2 (pp. 29-63) 9/11
Read RDF Primer [MM03], Sections 1-4 9/16
Read RDF Primer [MM03], Sections 5-6
Read An Introduction to RDF and the Jena RDF API
9/18
Read OWL Guide [SWM03], Sections 1-3 9/23
Read OWL Guide [SWM03], Sections 4-7 9/25
Read Ontology Development 101 [NM01] 9/30
Read Ontology Library Systems: The Key to Successful Ontology Re-use [DF01] 10/2
Read STWS Ch. 11 (pp. 317-359) 10/14
Read SemTag and Seeker: Bootstrapping the Semantic Web via Automated Semantic Annotation [DEG03] 10/16
Read Information Retrieval on the World Wide Web [GRG97]
Read Hypersearching the Web [CDG99]
10/21
Read STSW Ch. 7 (pp. 197-222).
Read TRIPLE---A Query, Inference, and Transformation Language for the Semantic Web [SD02]
(Alternate download for TRIPLE paper)
11/4
Read Benchmarking DAML+OIL Repositories [GHP03]
Read Scaling Question Answering to the Web [KEW01]
11/6
Read Reducing OWL Entailment to Description Logic Satisfiability [HPS03]
Read C-OWL: Contextualizing Ontologies [BGvH03]
11/11
Read A Logical Foundation for the Semantic Web [Hef01] 11/13
Read STSW Ch. 10 (pp. 279-315). 11/18
Read PROMPT: Algorithm and Tool for Automated Ontology Merging and Alignment [NM00]
Read Learning to Map between Ontologies on the Semantic Web [DMD02]
11/20
Read STSW Ch. 12 (pp. 363-376).
Read Automating DAML-S Web Services Composition Using SHOP2 [WPS03]
11/25
Read Simulation, Verification and Automated Composition of Web Services [NM02]
Read STSW Ch. 8 (pp. 223-251).
12/2
Read Magpie - Towards a Semantic Web Browser [DDM03]
Read Mangrove: Enticing Ordinary People onto the Semantic Web via Instant Gratifiation [MEG03]
12/4

Additional Class Materials

Syllabus
Contains information on course content, grading, assignments, and office hours
Search Engine Slides
Slides from Prof. Davison's Guest Lecture on Oct. 21

Links

The following sites contain additional information about the Semantic Web that you may find interesting.