Semantic Network Services

1
Semantic Network Services
Open Forum 2003 on Metadata Registries January
23, 245 PM 2003 Santa Fe, NM, US
Research project UFOPLAN-Ref. No. 20111612,
promoted by BMU/Federal Environmental Agency,
Germany

• Thomas Bandholtz
• KM Solution Manager, SchlumbergerSema, Cologne
  (DE)
• Member, OASIS TC Published Subjects GeoLang
  (Topic Maps)

2
German Environmental Information Network
gt 200.000 individual web pages supplied by over
70 authorities gt 500,000 objects in 9 remote
databases
Semantic Network Services semantic harmonization
of environmental information of national and
state authorities
3
Means of Integration in gein
One portal interface for the public
(http//www.gein.de)

• Search engine crawler full text index
  (ht//Dig)
• Distributed query on remote databases
• Shared ontology and automatic indexing

pre-SOAP(1999)
web service(2002)
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Search engine crawler full text index
Open source search engine
(since 1999)
Currently 200,000 pages in 70 websites
3-category-index stored in XML
simple text analysis developed by
SchlumbergerSema in 1999
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Remote query on remote databases
(since 1999)
search condition
HTTP post request, containing the query as XML
document, is posted to many EIS servers all
together gt500.000 objects.
GEIN web server
database web server
HTTP post response, containing the local
results (title, abstract, URL) as XML
document, is returned by each server.
local search method
result set
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SNS (RD 2001/2)Sharing an integrated
OntologyusingTopic Mapsand Web Services
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The Noise of water
"daphnia" "direct discharger" "permit for the use
of water" "deep water" "water aeration" "snow
water" "terms of waste water" "agricultural
effluent" "boiling water reactor" "water
pollution load" "combined waste water" "waste
water composition" "black water" "grey water"
"river works" "water board law" "water
supervision" "protection area for water
regulation" "groundwater resources" "salamander"
"agriculture" "tertiary purification of sewage"
"sewage purification close to nature" "persistent
chemical substance" "primary treatment" "flood"
"chemical sewage purification" "secondary
treatment of sewage" "industrial effluent"
"lowering of groundwater level" "waste water
purification" "bathing waters" "water protection"
"waste water reclamation" "surface water" "water
privilege" "underground disposal of waste water"
"water rate statute" "water levy act"
"hydro-isobath" "groundwater flow" "groundwater
storey" "public goods" "hot water storage" "hot
water heating system" "groundwater" "waste water
legislation" "water quality management" "water
heating" "seepage water disposal" "hot water"
"saline water intrusion" "industrial water"
"mineral water" "stocktaking" "municipal water
management" "hydraulic and sanitary engineering"
"waste water examination" "groundwater table"
"void water" "seepage water treatment"
"percolating water" "waste water reduction"
"sewage flow" "deep sea" "sewage lagoon" "waste
water statistics" "water protection policy"
"well" "water quality directive" "salts" "surface
water" "river water" "wastewater load" "indirect
discharger" "back water" "waste water register"
"river" "impregnation (materials)" "municipal
sewage" "waste water sludge" "ordinance on
parameters of noxiousness of waste water"
"sludge" "harmfulness of wastewater" "aquifer"
"impregnating agent" "sewer" "desalination of
brackish water" "waste water decontamination"
"brackish water" "Waste Water Origins Ordinance"
"intertidal area" "feed water" "groundwater
contour line" "ground water conservation" "soil
moisture regime" "soil water" "small body of
water" "waste water charge legislation" "waste
water charge code" "human settlement" "stagnant
water" "waste water charge fixation" "state water
law" "waters (geographic)" "water sciences"
"waste water charge" "environmental quality
objective" "turtle" "residue" "water works"
"waste water disposal" "proprietary right" "water
course regulation" "sewage decontamination"
"liquid manure" "industrial installation" "waste
water disposal embargo" "wastewater discharge"
"rinse water" "EU Water Protection Directive"
"industry" "Framework Water Directive" "river
filtrate" "waterfowl" "water pollution"
"rhizosphere" "dump impounded water"
"turbomachine" "water supply" "water pollution
prevention" "raw water" "deep water" "sea water
protection" "outfall" "water evaporation" "water
consumption" "water board decree" "biological
water testing" "sea water fish" "water analysis"
"sea water desalination" "material insoluble in
water" "shore belt bird" "waste water disposal
embargo" "waste water disposal scheme" "sea
water" "drinking water preparation regulation"
"sewage treatment plant" "turbidity of water"
"drinking water" "water management plan" "general
planning on water resources development" "sewage
disposal" "residual amount of water" "flowing
waters" "water management" "wastewater quality"
"tail water" "condensate" "under water coating"
"planning permission" "aquatic animal" "water
temperature" "water reuse" "tide" "waste water
treatment plant" "physical sewage treatment"
"mechanical sewage treatment" "water resources"
"international convention" "electrochemical
sewage treatment" "chemical sewage treatment"
"rural area" "anaerobic sewage treatment"
"aerobic sewage treatment" "water mite" "permit"
"drinking water supply" "drainage" "drinking
water regulation" "water quantity management"
"water volume" "water market" "water statistics"
"water level" "water sports" "reservoir" "waste
water treatment" "drinking water examination"
"drinking water protection area" "water shortage"
"solubility in water" "drinking water quality"
"water line" "water conductivity" "low water"
"regulation on securing of enough water" "law on
the securing of enough water" "securing enough
water" "shallow water" "protected water catchment
area" "Act Pertaining to Charges Levied for
Discharging Waste Water into Waters" "wastewater
levy" "water cooling system" "discharged water"
"water cycle" "hydroelectric power plant" "water
power" "water partition" "waterborne sound"
"water pollutant" "rainwater" "flood runoff"
"drinking water treatment plant" "drinking water
treatment" "pollution of waters" "sewerage
system" "water contents" "vapour" "Water Hygiene
Act" "water purification" "water act" "water
association" "vadose water" "inland water way"
"water hygiene" "water resources policy act"
"biological water balance" "water hardness"
"water pollution monitoring" "water sample"
"water price" "water flow" "aquatic plant"
"increasing water hardness" "water penny" "water
surface" "surface runoff" "water utilization"
"PWR-type reactor" "deep sea fishing" "inland
waters" "algae bloom" "hydrologic balance" "water
movement" "water bottom" "water quality model"
"water deposit" "water protection directive"
"water protection legislation" "water pollution
control measure" "water pollution control act"
"water pollution control deputy" "toilet"
"pelagial" "water demand" "hydraulic
construction" "water treatment" "water quality"
"long distance water supply" "water catchment"
"restoration of waters" "impounded water" "water
act" "water company" "regulation of waters"
"water content" "bilge water" "water ouzel"
"water runoff" "water endangering" "regulation
concerning water endangering matter" "wet-type
cooling tower" "permit to exploit water" "reject
water" "fresh water fish" "utilization of waters"
"Framework Waste Water Administrative Regulation"
"condition of water" "softening" "fresh water"
"groundwater characteristics" "water fall"
"administrative regulation on substances
hazardous to water" "water prospecting" "water
desalination" "lime water" "salt water" "black
water" "drainage water" "Ground Water Ordinance"
"Waste Water Ordinance" "Light water reactor"
"washing water" "water sterilization" "ground
water charges" "water softening" "quality of
waters" "clarification basin planted with water
plants" "endangering of water" "water saving"
"water permeability" "cooling water" "available
water supply" "steam" "water pool" "ecological
assessment"
308 terms about water from the UmThes Thesaurus
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Thesaurus Concept
ISO 2788/5964
composite
Morphology
Term
Synonym
Component
preferred
Descriptor
related
broader
as implemented in UmThes
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Where is River Rhine?
Nördliche Oberrheinniederung natural landscape
Mainz-Bingen district Waldshut district
Bodenseebecken natural landscape Dinkelberg
und Hochrheingebiet natural landscape
Hochrheintal natural landscape Markgräfler
Rheinebene natural landscape Mittleres
Oberrheintiefland natural landscape Offenburger
Rheinebene natural landscape Nördliches
Oberrheintiefland natural landscape
Vorderpfälzer Tiefland natural landscape
Mittelrheingebiet (mit Siebengebirge) natural
landscape Oberes Mittelrheintal natural
landscape Kölner Bucht (Köln-Bonner Rheinebene)
natural landscape Niederrheinisches Tiefland
natural landscape Mittlere Niederrheinebene
natural landscape Bodensee lake Elz catchment
area Rhein von Murg bis Neckar catchment area
Rhein von Sieg bis Erft catchment area Rhein
von Lippe bis Maas catchment area Franzosenkopf
mountain Rauhenberg mountain Bregenzer Ache
river Argen river Rotach river Schussen
river Stockacher Aach river Radolfzeller Aach
river Wutach river Schwarta river Aare
river Hauensteiner Alb river Wehra river
Kander river Sulzbach river Möhlin river
Elz river Kinzig river Rench river
Sauerbach river Murg river Lauter river
Klingbach river Pfinz river Queich river
Saalbach river Speyerbach river Kraichbach
river Neckar river Eckbach river Eisbach
river Weschnitz river Modau river
Schwarzbach river Main river Selz river
Nahe river Lahn river Mosel river Saynbach
river Nette river Wied river Ahr river
Sieg river Wupper river Dhünn river Erft
river Ruhr river Emscher river Lippe river
Schwarzwald mountains Taunus mountains
Westerwald mountains Siebengebirge mountains
Hunsrück mountains Schwäbische Alb mountains
Düsseldorf community Duisburg community
Krefeld community Emmerich community Kalkar
community Kleve community Rees community
Hilden community Langenfeld (Rhld.) community
Monheim am Rhein community Dormagen community
Meerbusch community Neuss community
Dinslaken community Moers community
Rheinberg community Voerde (Niederrhein)
community Wesel community Xanten community
Bonn community Köln community Leverkusen
community Wesseling community Bad Honnef
community Bornheim community Königswinter
community Niederkassel community Troisdorf
community Wachtberg community Wiesbaden
community Biblis community Bürstadt
community Groß-Rohrheim community Lampertheim
community Biebesheim am Rhein community
Bischofsheim community Gernsheim community
Ginsheim-Gustavsburg community Riedstadt
community Stockstadt am Rhein community
Trebur community Hochheim am Main community
Eltville am Rhein community Geisenheim
community Lorch community Oestrich-Winkel
community Rüdesheim am Rhein community Walluf
community Koblenz community Remagen
community Sinzig community Bad Breisig
community Brohl-Lützing community Gönnersdorf
community Burgbrohl community Andernach
community Bendorf community Brey community
Rhens community Spay community Niederwerth
community Urbar community Vallendar
community Weitersburg community Kaltenengers
community Kettig community Mülheim-Kärlich
community Sankt Sebastian community Urmitz
community Weißenthurm community Neuwied
community Bad Hönningen community Hammerstein
community Leutesdorf community Rheinbrohl
community Dattenberg community Leubsdorf
community Linz am Rhein community Ockenfels
community Kasbach-Ohlenberg community
Bruchhausen community Erpel community
Rheinbreitbach community Unkel community
Boppard community Hungenroth community
Karbach community Oberwesel community Sankt
Goar community Lahnstein community Filsen
community Kamp-Bornhofen community Osterspai
community Braubach community Bornich
community Dörscheid community Kaub community
Kestert community Lykershausen community
Nochern community Patersberg community Prath
community Reichenberg community Sankt
Goarshausen community Sauerthal community
Weisel community Frankenthal (Pfalz)
community Ludwigshafen am Rhein community
Mainz community Speyer community Worms
community Osthofen community Eich community
Gimbsheim community Hamm community
Germersheim community Wörth am Rhein
community Bellheim community Berg (Pfalz)
community Hagenbach community Neuburg am
Rhein community Jockgrim community Neupotz
community Lingenfeld community Hördt
community Kuhardt community Leimersheim
community Altrip community Bobenheim-Roxheim
community Neuhofen community Römerberg
community Otterstadt community Bingen am
Rhein community Budenheim community Ingelheim
am Rhein community Bacharach community
Manubach community Münster-Sarmsheim
community Niederheimbach community
Oberdiebach community Oberheimbach community
Trechtingshausen community Weiler bei Bingen
community Bodenheim community Lörzweiler
community Nackenheim community Gau-Algesheim
community Guntersblum community Ludwigshöhe
community Heidesheim am Rhein community
Dexheim community Dienheim community
Nierstein community Oppenheim community
Bodensee community Karlsruhe community
Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen community
Linkenheim-Hochstetten community Rheinstetten
community Dettenheim community Philippsburg
community Oberhausen-Rheinhausen community Au
am Rhein community Elchesheim-Illingen
community Iffezheim community Rastatt
community Steinmauern community Lichtenau
community Rheinmünster community Hügelsheim
community Mannheim community Brühl community
Ketsch community ......
423 locations intersecting with river Rhine
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The Gazetteer Model
intersects
Names Morphology
GeoObject
Types / Layers
Coordinates
part of
addressed by Open GIS Consortium (OGC)
11
What happened since Chernobyl?
Accident at the Chernobyl reactor ??? Following a
fire and minor explosion in one of the four
reactors in the Ukrainian atomic power station
Chernobyl, 10,000 km2 of the surrounding area is
contaminated radioactively, affecting 640
communities and 230,000 inhabitants. There are 35
immediate fatalities, and opinion is still
divided as to the extent of the long-term
consequences.
1986-04-26
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Chronology
sequence
Names Morphology
Event
Types
Temporal Extent
related
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The gein Ontology
Bi-lingual German/English

• a thesaurus of currently 39,143 environmental
  terms (UmThes, German source of GEMET)
• a gazetteer including the intersections between
  48,213 geographical objects of all kinds
  (extended GN250, includes UN LOCODE)
• a chronology of historical and contemporary
  events that have affected the environment,
  currently 544 events.

Before SNS, these have been three distinct
collections.
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Integration in a Topic Map
Topic
Thesaurus
Location
Event
Nation
Descriptor
Community
Accident
ex. USSR
Nuclear Energy
Ucraine
broader
Chernobyl radiation desaster 1986-04-26
situated in
Nuclear Accident
Chernobyl
where
what
occurrence www.chernobyl.com/
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What is a Topic Map?
subject
ID
anything whatsoever ...
names ltbaseNamegtltdisplayNamegt ltsortNamegt ltvariant
gt
Identitysubject identifier
topic
Topic Type
topic
topic
topic
occurrences addressable information objects
grouped around topics
role
role
associations
Association Type
ISO/IEC FCD 132502000 - Topic Maps Prepared by
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 - Document Description and
Processing Languages
16
In the most generic sense, a subject is anything
whatsoever, regardless of whether it exists or
has any other specific characteristics, about
which anything whatsoever may be asserted by any
means whatsoever.
ISO/IEC FCD 132502000 - Topic Maps
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Inheritance Extension (used by SNS)
Name ltbaseNamegtltdisplayNamegt ltsortNamegt ltvariantgt
Identity ltsubjectgtltsubjectIdentifiergt
topic
Occurrences lttitlegtltrolegt ltURLgt
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XTM (Appendix to 13250)

• One of two interchange formats (XTM is not the
  standard)
• DTD but no normative XML Schema
• Does not support extensions of topic
  characteristics
• No support of constraints (f.e. association
  templates)
• Announced
• 13250 Part X The Standard Application Model
• 13250 Part X The Reference Model
• ISO 18048 Topic Maps Query Language (TMQL)
• ISO 19756 Topic Maps Constraint Language (TMCL)
• My humble opinion OWL can be used.

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The SNS Topic Typology
Thesaurus
related
intersects
broader
related
Event
Location
Descriptor
what?
where?
preferred
Synonym
Conference, ...
composite
Administrative, ...
Component
Stopword
To be extended by persons, organizations,
environmental indicators, monitoring methods,
species taxonomies, .........
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Graphical View (topic-centered)
climatic change (center), 2 levels of
associated topics
21
A document-centered View
topic space
document
?
primary topic cluster
topics grouped around addressable information
objects
loner
secondary topic cluster
22
Automatic Classification
read document
rank by frequency
separate stopwords
rank by position
recognize word position
find near-by topic clusters
find words in topic map
compare to similar documents
classification candidates
verified candidates
classification
quality assurance
use!
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Associative Search
query text
1. topic2. topic3. topic.....
1. topic2. topic3. topic.....
resulting documents
As your query text input is handled like any
other document, the query is matched to the
searched content by a one-and-only
auto-classification method.
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System Architecture
Remote Applications
Web Services
Import/Export
Java API
Search Navigation
Auto- classification
XTM, OWL
Topic Map
Design Maintenance
Database- interface
corporate IT architecture
corporate Knowledge Experts
HTML GUI
built on SchlumbergerSema XML Topic Map Engine
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SNS Web Services
W3C Web Services Activity
(Original picture by webservices.org)
26
snsfindTopics
search term
ltfindTopicsgt ltqueryTermgtMauerseglerlt/queryTermgt
ltsearchTypegtcontainslt/searchTypegt ltlanggtdelt/langgt
ltpathgt/eventlt/pathgt ltfieldsgtnameslt/fieldsgt lt/fi
ndTopicsgt
search method
topic type path
fields to search
results in a list of matching topics
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snsgetPSI )

referenced topic ID
ltgetPSIgt ltidgt4711lt/idgt ltdistancegt2lt/distancegt lt/
getPSIgt
depth of tree to be returned
results in a tree of associated topics, with ltidgt
as root.
GET-request version http//sns.uba.de/getPSI?id
4711distance2
) Published Subject Identifier (PSI) is a topic
map paradigma about on-line accessible, published
topic definitions.
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URI reference as Published Subject Identifier
Reference to Berlin, Germany provided by SNS
http//sns.uba.de/getPSI?idDE-BER
Name of implemented identifier service.
Domain of publisher
Query as part of the URI reference.
This URL will return the DE-BER definition as a
lttopicgt in XML. This SNS Topic itself references
UN/LOCODE DE BER, but not
US BRB Berlin US BIK Berlin US BML Berlin US
XBT Berlin US BRI Berlin
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snsautoClassify
ltautoClassifygt ltdocumentgt... any text to be
classified ... lt/documentgt lturlgthttp//..../doc.
htmllt/urlgt ltlanggtdelt/langgt lt/autoClassifygt
text to be classified may be given by value, or
by URI reference
results in a list of significant topics that
classify the document
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Extended Application Scenario (Europe)

• enhance GEMET
• add Gazetteer
• add Chronology
• 19-lingual auto-classification

E-SNS
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Conclusion

• allow active usage of the ontology for any
  network member
• avoid multiple platform support and physical
  distribution of the ontology server application
• make local database search methods understand the
  topics to search for (in the gein context)
• provide the shared ontology in local Intranets
  and regional public information systems.

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For more information
Thomas Bandholtz tbandholtz_at_slb.com KM Solution
Manager, SchlumbergerSema, Cologne (DE) Member,
OASIS TC Published Subjects GeoLang (Topic
Maps)
http//www.schlumbergersema.com/
Federal Environmental Agency, Germany
http//www.umweltbundesamt.de/index-e.htm
German Environmental Information Network
http//www.gein.de Upcoming new version in Feb,
2003!
Semantic Network Services Going on-line in Q1,
2003.
Guide to the topic map standards.
http//www.y12.doe.gov/sgml/sc34/document/0323.htm

ISO/IEC (JTC 1/SC34) 132501999 (Topic
Maps) http//www.y12.doe.gov/sgml/sc34/document/01
29.pdf
OASIS Topic Maps Published Subjects
TC http//www.oasis-open.org/committees/tm-pubsubj
/
OASIS Topic Maps Published Subjects for Geography
and Languages (GeoLang) TC http//www.oasis-open.o
rg/committees/geolang/