VoiD

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Vocabulary of Interlinked Datasets
Homepage: rdfs.org/ns/void/
Language: RDF Schema
Last release: January 23 2009
Last revision: January 23 2009
Namespace: http://rdfs.org/ns/void#

voiD (from "Vocabulary of Interlinked Datasets") is an RDF based schema to describe linked datasets. With voiD the discovery and usage of linked datasets can be performed both effectively and efficiently. A dataset is a collection of data, published and maintained by a single provider, available as RDF, and accessible, for example, through dereferenceable HTTP URIs or a SPARQL endpoint.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Basically, we find two classes at the heart of voiD:

In the following, the modelling of the interlinking in voiD is depicted:

voiD interlinking concept

The core resources of the voiD spec are as follows:

  1. voiD vocabulary (normative), defines the classes and properties (available in HTML and RDF)
  2. voiD guide, explains the usage of voiD for both data publisher and consumer (along with other vocabularies such as Dublin Core, FOAF, etc.)
  3. voiD code repository, hosting exemplary implementations (also issues re the vocabulary are accessible there)

[edit] Using voiD

A simple voiD example that describes two well-known LOD datasets and their interlinking is shown in the following. 

@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
@prefix dcterms: <http://purl.org/dc/terms/> .
@prefix void: <http://rdfs.org/ns/void#> .

:DBpedia rdf:type void:Dataset ;
         foaf:homepage <http://dbpedia.org/> .

:DBLP rdf:type void:Dataset ;
      foaf:homepage <http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/dblp/all> ;
      dcterms:subject <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Computer_science> ;
      dcterms:subject <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Journal> ;
      dcterms:subject <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Proceedings> .

:DBpedia void:subset :DBpedia2DBLP  .

:DBpedia2DBLP rdf:type void:Linkset ;
              void:target :DBpedia ;
              void:target :DBLP .

Let us assume that the above voiD description has, for example, been gathered by a semantic indexer from the voiD documents data publishers provide along with their dataset. It is then possible to execute the following example query: 

SELECT DISTINCT ?dataset
WHERE {
  ?dataset a void:Dataset .
  ?dataset dcterms:subject <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Journal> .
}

This query asks for all datasets that have been categorised as containing data about journals and will eventually return :DBLP. A slightly modified version of the query above applied to the RKB explorer is shown below: 

SELECT DISTINCT ?dataset
WHERE {
 ?dataset a void:Dataset .
 ?dataset dcterms:subject <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Category:Computer_scientists> .
}

The above SPARQL query will list all datasets about computer scientists.

Much more is possible with voiD, though. You can describe basic dataset metadata (such as publisher, license, etc.), vocabularies used, example resources, SPARQL endpoint availability, and of course the fine-grained interlinking between the datasets. Such an example, describing partly the interlinking between DBpedia and Geonames, is: 

:DBpedia void:subset :DBpedia2Geonames .

:DBpedia2Geonames a void:Linkset ;
             void:linkPredicate owl:sameAs ;
             void:target :DBpedia ;
             void:target :Geonames .

[edit] Generating and Consuming

There are already tools and applications available that consume or produce voiD.

[edit] Generators & Editors

[edit] Exploration, Browser, Stores

[edit] Examples in the Wild

We are aware of some early adopters of voiD. In the examples below, voiD is used for different purposes and use cases, however, the time it took people to implement it may be an indicator for how remarkably easy it is to generate/consume voiD.

[edit] OECD Glossary of Statistics

oecd.dataincubator.org is a dataset offering voiD about data extracted from the OECD Glossary of Statistics.

[edit] Lingvoj

As reported by Bernard Vatant, lingvoj has a voiD description as well; lingvoj is a linked dataset dedicated to the publication and use of multilingual RDF descriptions of human languages.

[edit] OpenLink Software

From the Virtuoso Open-Source Edition 5.0.10 release (2009-02-13) we gather that OpenLink has added support for voiD. Further, Kingsley Idehen (CEO and founder of OpenLink) has announced a demo from their Virtuoso platform: the so called uriburner service turns structured HTML into RDF and uses voiD to represent the (on the fly) generated data description.

As announced on 5 March 2009, OpenLink has generated a voiD graph for the DBpedia; use <http://dbpedia.org/void/> for the default graph field at http://dbpedia.org/sparql

Virtuoso (both Open- and Closed-Source variants) also now includes scripts which use built-in functions for voiD generation and storage, e.g., DB.DBA.RDF_VOID_STORE

[edit] RDFohloh

Sergio announced that RDFohloh has voiD descriptions.

[edit] RKB explorer

As reported by Hugh Glaser, the RKB explorer activity has a voiD site which enables query and browse for CRS datasets. For example: 

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>
PREFIX void:<http://rdfs.org/ns/void#>
PREFIX scovo:<http://purl.org/NET/scovo#>

SELECT ?subjects ?objects ?stats  
WHERE { 
 ?crs void:subjectsTarget ?subjects . 
 ?crs void:objectsTarget ?objects . 
 ?crs void:statItem ?item .
 ?item rdf:value ?stats . 
}

The interlinkage of the RKB sites can be visualised from the voiD data.

The voiD data for a particular RKB site can be accessed as Linked Data at that site, for example the dblp.rkbexplorer.com site has a void.ttl file, voiD dataset URI and information about its CRS.

[edit] SchemaCache

SchemaCache publishes a voiD description.

[edit] Decimalised Database of Concepts

In the decimalised database of concepts (DDC) dataset, voiD is used extensively. DDC is a collection of topics suitable for use in linked data. It is inspired by the Dewey Decimal Classification, but no guarantees are made about the closeness of its resemblance as a whole. SKOS mapping links are provided from this database to the Dewey system, to Library of Congree Classification codes and to DBPedia resources where possible.

[edit] Telegraphis

Linked Data about currencies on telegraphis.net, see http://telegraphis.net/data/void

[edit] Feedback

You can join the voiD group over at identi.ca or write us (void-rdfs-internals[AT]googlegroups.com).

[edit] See also

The voiD vocabulary is maintained by the voiD team:

[edit] by the voiD team

[edit] what others say about voiD

Retrieved from "http://semanticweb.org/wiki/VoiD"
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