A Foundation for a Semantic Web
John D. Ramsdell · 2000
A semantic web is a web of data designed to be processed by machines. It enables processing based on the meaning of the data. To be useful, semantic data will be combined from several sources. This paper focuses on the relation of the combined data to its sources. Using the method of interpretations between theories in a logic with undefined terms, it establishes criteria for combining information in a fashion that preserves the inferences available in the original information. The formalism can be used to evaluate existing languages for semantic data on the web, such as the Simple html Ontology Extensions (shoe). 1 Logic and the Web In the traditional web, information is structured and shared in forms that facilitate its display for human consumption. For example, an html document is divided into sections, paragraphs, and lists. The document's structure guides a browser's rendering of the document on a computer screen. # Supported by the MITRE Sponsored Research Program. Author's ad...