The TRANSLATION Framework for archaeological excavation data: transparent negotiation and sharing of local application terminologies, instances and ontologies. A progress report submitted for continuation towards a PhD

Abstract

The Semantic Web is rapidly maturing thanks to consolidation of its technologies and an incipient body of linked data available to the public. Nevertheless, there is a danger that we may throw the baby out with the bathwater. Whilst the utility of bridging separate conceptualizations of a domain through explicit specifications (ontologies) is clear, it does not follow that we want to abandon the original data models. The purpose of this research will be to investigate SW methodologies that loosely-couple local ontologies so that the semantic structures they embody are still accessible to the end-user for comparison and analysis.

The discipline of archaeology provides an excellent case-study in this regard. The fragmentary nature of its sources, and the diverse theoretical approaches of its practitioners render any attempt to establish a universal ‘world-view’ impossible. The result, whilst superficially homogenous, conceals conceptual rifts which may be of great significance. The need to express one’s work in terms of another’s ontology can also give rise to concerns of disenfranchisement that impede user adoption. A successful Semantic Web methodology should first permit contributors to describe their own data in their own (ontological) terms, and then provide the resources by which any user can create (or select) alignments to other Domain or Application ontologies.

This research aims to develop a process by which resource providers are able to publish their data to the Semantic Web in a manner that keeps its semantic origins as transparent as possible via an explicit ontology. Thereafter, alignment should be made possible in a ‘pluggable’ fashion so that alternative combinations of meaning can be explored. Its primary output will be the TRANSLATION Framework: a piece of modular open source software deployed as a case study to explore the benefits of Semantic technologies. This report is intended to provide both computer scientists and archaeologists with a plan of the work to be undertaken.

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