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Currently, we are
experiencing an
information explosion. It has become impossible for
individuals to stay on top of the incessent creation of new knowledge.
Again, the solution is to teach the computers to help us. Computers
are much faster at scanning information than we are. If they only
understood what we were looking for, they could help weed out all the
unnecessary data and present us instead with relevant material. The semantic web is a major initiative towards making this possible.
The technology is designed to allow content publishers (i.e. the
millions of companies trying to sell their wares, services, and/or
knowledge) to go beyond text and pictures designed for people to
understand. Now in addition companies will be able to include semantic
markup designed for computers to also understand what is being
presented. The way it will work is that groups will design standardized ontologies
for describing products, news, and other things. Product
retailers
(etc.) will use those ontologies to describe what they are offering,
and embed that information in the web page. Software companies
will
design software agents which search the web for products and
information you seek. You will employ those software agents to go
out and find what you need to know. To
help in this search process, we can take things a step further by
teaching the search tool about your job
and the kinds of information you are interested in. The tool can
use
this understanding to refine its searches so it filters out information
which matches your search keys but doesn't match your job profile.
Of course all this will be done with your full consent and
control. Finally this tool can be programmed to work
24/7 searching the web for new and relevant information. When
something new appears, it will notify you so you can be always on top
of the latest stuff. Yet because the system knows your job and what is
relevant, you can hope not to be bombarded by a continuous flow of
useless junk. However,
due to the vastness of the web, you may just be bombarded with a
continual flow of useful information. 8-[. It will then take
development of a second agent to organize, classify and direct your
browsing through this mass to help youunderstand what you need to know. | 