``` _:a <https://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <https://schema.org/Person> . _:a <https://schema.org/name> "Paul Schuster" . _:a <https://schema.org/birthPlace> <https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731> . <https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731> <https://schema.org/itemtype> <https://schema.org/Place> . <https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731> <https://schema.org/name> "Dresden" . ``` The triples result in the graph shown in [the given figure](#graph1). [](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RDF_example_extended.svg) Graph resulting from the RDFa example, enriched with further data from the Web One of the advantages of using [Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Identifier "Uniform Resource Identifier") is that they can be dereferenced using the [HTTP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP "HTTP") protocol. According to the so-called [Linked Open Data](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_Open_Data "Linked Open Data") principles, such a dereferenced URI should result in a document that offers further data about the given URI. In this example, all URIs, both for edges and nodes (e.g. `http://schema.org/Person`, `http://schema.org/birthPlace`, `http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731`) can be dereferenced and will result in further RDF graphs, describing the URI, e.g. that Dresden is a city in Germany, or that a person, in the sense of that URI, can be fictional. The second graph shows the previous example, but now enriched with a few of the triples from the documents that result from dereferencing `https://schema.org/Person` (green edge) and `https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731` (blue edges). Additionally to the edges given in the involved documents explicitly, edges can be automatically inferred: the triple ``` _:a <https://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://schema.org/Person> . ``` from the original RDFa fragment and the triple ``` <https://schema.org/Person> <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#equivalentClass> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> . ``` from the document at `https://schema.org/Person` (green edge in the figure) allow to infer the following triple, given [OWL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Ontology_Language "Web Ontology Language") semantics (red dashed line in the second Figure): ``` _:a <https://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> . ``` Background ---------- [[edit source](/w/index.php?title=Semantic_Web&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section's source code: Background")] Further information: [Semantic network § History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_network#History "Semantic network") The concept of the [semantic network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_network "Semantic network") was used in the 1950s and 1960s by researchers such as the [Richard H. Richens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_H._Richens "Richard H. Richens")[[16]](#cite_note-16), [cognitive scientist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science "Cognitive science") [Allan M. Collins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_M._Collins "Allan M. Collins"), [computational linguist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_linguistics "Computational linguistics") [M. Ross Quillian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Ross_Quillian?action=edit&redlink=1 "M. Ross Quillian (page does not exist)")[[17]](#cite_note-17)[[18]](#cite_note-18) and [psychologist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologist "Psychologist") [Elizabeth F. Loftus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_F._Loftus "Elizabeth F. Loftus") to represent semantically structured knowledge, both conceptually and in computer systems. The term "Semantic Web" was coined by [Tim Berners-Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee "Tim Berners-Lee"),[[7]](#cite_note-Berners-Lee-7) the inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the World Wide Web Consortium ("[W3C](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W3C "W3C")"), which oversees the development of proposed Semantic Web standards. He defines the Semantic Web as "a web of data that can be processed directly and indirectly by machines". The Semantic Web extends the network of [hyperlinked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink "Hyperlink") human-readable [web pages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_pages "Web pages") by inserting machine-readable metadata about pages and how they are related to each other. This enables [automated agents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler "Web crawler") to access the Web more intelligently and perform more tasks on behalf of users. Many of the technologies proposed by the W3C already existed before they were positioned under the W3C umbrella. These are used in various contexts, particularly those dealing with information that encompasses a limited and defined domain, and where sharing data is a common necessity, such as scientific research or data exchange among businesses. In addition, other technologies with similar goals have emerged, such as [microformats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microformat "Microformat").

{
  "evidence_unit_id": "unit:2fc49185f2c8d0af0f7a:81d82e28cc7a84c10a8a:1:ff3783a10c6727cc7c90",
  "artifact_id": "artifact:2fc49185f2c8d0af0f7a:ded8befd85127fca1b40",
  "text": "```\n _:a <https://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <https://schema.org/Person> .\n _:a <https://schema.org/name> \"Paul Schuster\" .\n _:a <https://schema.org/birthPlace> <https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731> .\n <https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731> <https://schema.org/itemtype> <https://schema.org/Place> .\n <https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731> <https://schema.org/name> \"Dresden\" .\n```\n\nThe triples result in the graph shown in [the given figure](#graph1).\n\n[![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/RDF_example_extended.svg/960px-RDF_example_extended.svg.png)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RDF_example_extended.svg)\n\nGraph resulting from the RDFa example, enriched with further data from the Web\n\nOne of the advantages of using [Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Identifier \"Uniform Resource Identifier\") is that they can be dereferenced using the [HTTP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP \"HTTP\") protocol. According to the so-called [Linked Open Data](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_Open_Data \"Linked Open Data\") principles, such a dereferenced URI should result in a document that offers further data about the given URI. In this example, all URIs, both for edges and nodes (e.g. `http://schema.org/Person`, `http://schema.org/birthPlace`, `http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731`) can be dereferenced and will result in further RDF graphs, describing the URI, e.g. that Dresden is a city in Germany, or that a person, in the sense of that URI, can be fictional.\n\nThe second graph shows the previous example, but now enriched with a few of the triples from the documents that result from dereferencing `https://schema.org/Person` (green edge) and `https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1731` (blue edges).\n\nAdditionally to the edges given in the involved documents explicitly, edges can be automatically inferred: the triple\n\n```\n _:a <https://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://schema.org/Person> .\n```\n\nfrom the original RDFa fragment and the triple\n\n```\n <https://schema.org/Person> <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#equivalentClass> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> .\n```\n\nfrom the document at `https://schema.org/Person` (green edge in the figure) allow to infer the following triple, given [OWL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Ontology_Language \"Web Ontology Language\") semantics (red dashed line in the second Figure):\n\n```\n _:a <https://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> .\n```\n\nBackground\n----------\n\n[[edit source](/w/index.php?title=Semantic_Web&action=edit&section=3 \"Edit section's source code: Background\")]\n\nFurther information: [Semantic network § History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_network#History \"Semantic network\")\n\nThe concept of the [semantic network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_network \"Semantic network\") was used in the 1950s and 1960s by researchers such as the [Richard H. Richens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_H._Richens \"Richard H. Richens\")[[16]](#cite_note-16), [cognitive scientist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science \"Cognitive science\") [Allan M. Collins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_M._Collins \"Allan M. Collins\"), [computational linguist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_linguistics \"Computational linguistics\") [M. Ross Quillian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Ross_Quillian?action=edit&redlink=1 \"M. Ross Quillian (page does not exist)\")[[17]](#cite_note-17)[[18]](#cite_note-18) and [psychologist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologist \"Psychologist\") [Elizabeth F. Loftus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_F._Loftus \"Elizabeth F. Loftus\") to represent semantically structured knowledge, both conceptually and in computer systems.\n\nThe term \"Semantic Web\" was coined by [Tim Berners-Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee \"Tim Berners-Lee\"),[[7]](#cite_note-Berners-Lee-7) the inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the World Wide Web Consortium (\"[W3C](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W3C \"W3C\")\"), which oversees the development of proposed Semantic Web standards. He defines the Semantic Web as \"a web of data that can be processed directly and indirectly by machines\". The Semantic Web extends the network of [hyperlinked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink \"Hyperlink\") human-readable [web pages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_pages \"Web pages\") by inserting machine-readable metadata about pages and how they are related to each other. This enables [automated agents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler \"Web crawler\") to access the Web more intelligently and perform more tasks on behalf of users.\n\nMany of the technologies proposed by the W3C already existed before they were positioned under the W3C umbrella. These are used in various contexts, particularly those dealing with information that encompasses a limited and defined domain, and where sharing data is a common necessity, such as scientific research or data exchange among businesses. In addition, other technologies with similar goals have emerged, such as [microformats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microformat \"Microformat\").",
  "access_class": "public",
  "heading": "Document (part 2 of 2)",
  "observed_at": "2026-07-18T21:40:59.214Z",
  "state": "active"
}