Prof. Stefan Decker

1. Research publication & enabling technologies for improved communication:Semantic Publishing and the Semantic Desktop Prof. Stefan Decker

2. Mission Physical World People Computers • DERI Galway’s Mission is • “to exploit semantics for • People • Organisations • Systems • to collaborate and interoperate on a global scale”

3. What is the Semantic Web? • “An extension of the current Web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation.” • Sir Tim Berners-Lee et al., Scientific American, 2001: tinyurl.com/i59p

4. The Semantic Web: Interlinked Data from Distributed Sources http://www.fraison.org http://www.sara.org http://www.natasha.org

5. 400 Years of Academic Publishing… • And we are still doing it in the same way??? • Authors write narratives which need to be read and understood • Published as paper … only the transfer is electronic [de Waard, 2006]

6. As linear Text – with references [de Waard]

7. Can we afford to continue this way?

8. Challenges: Scientific Publishing • Findrelevant literature • Identify specific items (claims, justifications) • Understandrelations between (parts of) the publication and existing knowledge in the field

9. Scientific Publishing (cont.) • Current approaches • Information extraction, data mining • E.g.: Google Scholar, CiteSeer, Medline … • Main draw-back: lack of interpreting the actual semantics of the text • Bio-medical domain • Curators • Manual scan of scientific articles, population of domain-specific databases • Advantage: researchers can pose detailed queries on specific data (e.g. illnesses, symptoms, genes) • Main draw-back: enormous amount of literature to be formalized, serious delay of the knowledge transfer

10. Scientific Publishing (currently) ? ? ? Facts / Publication Database Curators Publication repositories curation population

11. Publishing is adding new Knowledge into a Knowledge Network! Paper A make it explicit! Paper B Claim A1 HasSubClaims HasSubClaims SubClaim 1 SubClaim 2 Claim B1 supportedBy supportedBy supportedBy …. Experiment X1

12. Enter … Semantic Publishing • Semantic Publishing = Semantic Web + Scientific Publishing • Authoring process • Shifting the problem to the writing phase • Publishing process • Creation of uniquely addressable knowledge elements • Interoperability

13. Semantic Publishing ? ? ? Facts / Publication Database Publication repositories

14. Authoring and Publishing process • Incremental • Creating a network of metadata and ideas • Author-centred • Using the author’s knowledge to semantically enrich the publication during the writing process (and possibly even afterwards) • Knowledge elements ~ rhetorical blocks and claims • Weaving the claim web • Publication reference at micro-level • Creation of Argumentation Discourse Networks • Explicit structuring of ideas and argumentation • Immediate reward

15. Publishing process (cont.) • Example of decomposition into knowledge elements

16. Publishing process (cont.) • Example of an Argumentation Discourse Network

17. Experimental Implementation • SALT (Semantically Annotated LaTeX) • http://salt.semanticauthoring.org • Early foundational framework • Plan: Evaluation • Elsevier • Application of semantic publishing for scientific communication • Development of a new, semantic form for the scientific article • REMEDI • Application and validation of semantic publishing in the biomedical domain and research • Particular case study: Gene therapy

18. We do it … but will they come? • Target • Students and researchers open for experiments • New comers in the research field • Life science researchers … in general • Advantages • Improve structuring and discourse argumentation in the process of scientific writing • Increase visibility in the scientific community • It will happen anyway! Better we design it the way we want Still: How to reduce the necessary work?

19. Going back…. Memex (Vannevar Bush)A memex is “a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications.” Open Hypertext System(Doug Engelbart)“The open hyperdocument system (OHS) is a standards-based, open source framework for developing collaborative, knowledge management applications.” WWW (Tim Berners-Lee)“There was a second part of the dream […] we could then use computers to help us analyse it, make sense of what we re doing, where we individually fit in, and how we can better work together.”

20. It wasn’t the time…

21. But now it is… Today necessary technologies & communities exist: • Standardised metadata: Semantic Web • Scalable distributed infrastructure: P2P Computing • Knowledge articulation and interaction: Desktop/Wiki Technology • Processing of unstructured and legacy information: NLP • Human centric information exchange: Online Social Networks

22. Social Semantic Desktop • Motivation • Personal data management is a general problem – not just for scientists • Data for publication has to come from some where • Notes • Email • Exchange idea • Ideal: • Support collaboration with the creation, organisation, and exchange of information (beyond email)

23. Social Semantic DesktopRealization • Desktop: Help individuals in managing information on the Web / their PC • Semantic: Make content available to automated processing • Social: Enable exchange across individual boundaries

24. Social Semantic Desktop: Current status • NEPOMUK Social Semantic Desktop Project • 4 MNCs (IBM, HP, SAP, Thales), 3 SMEs, 8 Research Centres • Open source • Goals: Central per desktop meta data storage • Standard desktop ontologies • Semantic search on meta data • Linking of related data from different sources • Prototype: NEPOMUK KDE • Part of the KDE 4 standard libraries: on every Linux system! • Great adoption from the Linux community

25. Semantic Publishing meets Social Semantic Desktop • Symbiosis with bilateral implications • Semantic Desktop -> Semantic Publishing • Provides: a collection of documents and ideas + central metadata storage • Value: re-use of existing metadata during the authoring process and for creating new ideas • Semantic Publishing -> Semantic Desktop • Provides: new metadata and ideas • Value: improving search results + creating links between information elements based on the newly generated metadata

26. Conclusion • Semantic Publishing • Improved information representation • Better information re-use • Improved research communication • Rich argumentation discourse networks – open & linked • Social Semantic Desktop • Personal Information Management • Distributed Information Management • Social Network and Community Services • Standard Ontologies • Open Architecture • Semantic Desktop + Semantic Publishing • Ideal platform for Research & Personal (including Social) Information Management

27. Contact information • Contacts: • Prof. Dr. Stefan Decker (stefan.decker@deri.org) • Dr. Siegfried Handschuh (siegfried.handschuh@deri.org) • Tudor Groza (tudor.groza@deri.org) • Links: • http://www.deri.ie/ • http://salt.semanticauthoring.org/ • http://nepomuk.semanticdesktop.org/ • Stefan Decker, Martin Frank: The Social Semantic Desktop. (search Google for : Social Semantic Desktop)