Dan Connolly

N3logic: A logical framework for the world wide web

The Semantic Web drives toward the use of the Web for interacting with logically interconnected data. Through knowledge models such as Resource Description Framework (RDF), the Semantic Web provides a unifying representation of richly structured data. Adding logic to the Web implies the use of rules to make inferences, choose courses of action, and answer questions. This logic must be powerful enough to describe complex properties of objects but not so powerful that agents can be tricked by being asked to consider a paradox. The Web has several characteristics that can lead to problems when existing logics are used, in particular, the inconsistencies that inevitably arise due to the openness of the Web, where anyone can assert anything. N3Logic is a logic that allows rules to be expressed in a Web environment. It extends RDF with syntax for nested graphs and quantified variables and with predicates for implication and accessing resources on the Web, and functions including cryptographic, string, math. The main goal of N3Logic is to be a minimal extension to the RDF data model such that the same language can be used for logic and data. In this paper, we describe N3Logic and illustrate through examples why it is an appropriate logic for the Web.

Panel 2: The Implications of Digital Scholarship for Research Libraries: Challenges of Access and Preservation

ABSTRACT The panelists present observations on the impact of digital scholarship for library goals related to information access and preservation based on their experiences in a variety of Web-influenced environments. The advent of digital forms of publishing and information retrieval signal significant changes in our understanding of library business models, user services, and the role of special collections.