The promise of the Semantic Web to provide a universal medium to exchange data information and knowledge has been well publicized. There are many sources too for basic information on the extensions to the WWW that permit content to be expressed in natural language yet used by software agents to easily find, share and integrate information. Until now individuals engaged in creating ontologies-- formal descriptions of the concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain-- have had no sources beyond the technical standards documents. Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist transforms this information into the practical knowledge that programmers and subject domain experts need. Authors Allemang and Hendler begin with solutions to the basic problems, but don't stop there: they demonstrate how to develop your own solutions to problems of increasing complexity and ensure that your skills will keep pace with the continued evolution of the Semantic Web.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 12 Ratings

Finally, a good textbook - 2009-06-22
Reviewer Rating:
There are maybe half a dozen or so books in my library that have defined the body of knowledge that has been the subject of my career. All the others are interesting (or not) but not the definitive description of the subject. It is very rare when a new one comes along. But when one does succinctly and clearly define and describe a subject area I have been struggling to master for several years, this is worth celebrating.

This is such a book. For the last several years, I have been studying OWL and the Semantic Web, recognizing that there is something there that is important. But it's been a struggle to get on top of it. For example, the books I've found so far (and indeed, the OWL specification itself) describes the language in terms of XML. That's ok, and I was able to understand bits and pieces of it. And I did get the fundamental difference between semantic modeling as done in OWL and semantic modeling as I have been doing with entity/relationship modeling. But I never really felt comfortable that I "got it".

This book, however, very clearly starts at the beginning and takes the reader through the steps required to understand not just the languages involved, but why they are important and why they are significant to the Semantic Web. Indeed this is the first time I can say that I really understand the semantic web.

One of the reviews complains that the book doesn't go far enough. Perhaps not. But if you are looking for a place not just to start your education and to get a through grounding in fundamental concepts, this is the book for you.

I strongly recommend this book.

Finally a book for the practician in semantics - 2009-08-14
Reviewer Rating:
Being overwhelmed with scientific and technical publications, finally a book where the practician is waiting for.
This book shows with examples you can model data while keeping the feet on earth with practical application of the relevant W3C recommendations.
I learned why we had to apply the rules cited in many documents on tools and in publications. Not by simply quoting the source recommendation, but by explaining the grounding of that recommendation.
This became even clearer through the sequence of the treated subjects, building understanding on top of each preceding chapter: RDF, RDFS, RDFS plus, OWL, OWL levels.
If we make abstraction of the web environmental conditions, this work is also very useful in general knowledge management.

Great book, in hardcopy, but terrible on the Kindle - 2009-06-10
Reviewer Rating:
This was one of the first books that I bought for my newly purchased Kindle. I found the book to be a very well written introduction to RDF/S & OWL, but it was frustratingly difficult to read on the Kindle. Aside from the general difficulty of paging back and forth on the Kindle (something that must be done to understand most technical literature), I found the figures and tables on the Kindle to be extremely difficult to read, even when "magnified". If you're trying to understand the Semantic Web, specifically RDF/S & OWL, then buy the hardcopy version of this book. I finally did, and it is great. (So, now I own two copies of this book, and I'm restricting myself to reading only novels on my Kindle.)

Simply outstanding! - 2009-05-13
Reviewer Rating:
Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist: Effective Modeling in RDFS and OWL

After having read a number of other books on semantic technology, I unquestionably rate the book by Dean Allemang as the best in the market. Not only it is comprehensive and clear, but it is full of advices, tips and perspectives that only a person with extensive practical experience in the field can provide.

A welcome reference, for beginners and specialists alike. - 2009-10-02
Reviewer Rating:
The first few chapters do a good job of laying out the fundamental concepts of Semantic Web and RDF, gradually building you towards a complete understanding of this heady topic. I definitely recommend those chapters for people who want to get a solid grasp on RDF and the whole Semantic Web mentality.

From that intro, the book segues pretty smoothly into iteratively introducing layers of RDF's complexity & richness. If you're fond of (or at least unafraid of) formal logic, you will love the pragmatic way in which the authors lay out technical scenarios to make their point.

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