DS5 : Intelligent Resource Discovery

DS5 is a design study with the following objectives:

• Assess technologies relevant to astronomical resource discovery
• Design new infrastructural components using these technologies
• Produce trial implementations of such new components

Scope

The first goal of DS5 is to undertake a feasibility study for developing components based on emergent technologies in the areas of the Semantic Web and Ontologies. This study will be used as a reference for actual component designs and trial implementations, and ultimately developments of standards at the IVOA level.

The feasibility study will consist in two parallel actions:

• surveying available techniques, standards and tools related to the Semantic Web and Ontologies, identifying their scope, community-support and limitations.
• identifying a list of possible science cases where intelligent resource discovery tools could be developed for astronomers, highlighting interactions with related IVOA working groups when relevant.

A short-list of component designs and trial implementations will stem from the combination of these two actions. Participants in DS5 will then focus on these selected science-cases. Building on the knowledge gained from these experiments, standards should be suggested for acceptance by the IVOA.

Because the semantic web and ontologies are active research topics, a technology watch for the evolution of techniques, standards and tools will have to be performed throughout the VOTech project duration (e.g. the evolution of available techniques could allow during year 3 the development of applications that would have been judged unrealistic in Stage 01).

Participants

• SebastienDerriere (Workgroup Leader)
• AndreaPreiteMartinez
• MarcoLeoni
• ThomasBoch
• BriceGassmann
• ElizabethAuden
• TonyLinde
• NormanGray
• AlexandreRichard
• ChristianBonnin
• BrunoRino

Stage Plans, Meetings and Reports

Stage	Period	Initial plan	DS5 DSRP Detailed meeting page	Location
StageOne	Jan 2005 - Sep 2005	DS5Plan01	DS5PlanningStage01 Plan for stage01	Leicester, feb. 21, 2005
StageTwo	Oct 2005 - Mar 2006	DS5Plan02	DS5PlanningStage02 Stage01 report and Stage02 planning	Edinburgh, sep. 15, 2005
StageThree	Apr 2006 - Sep 2006	DS5Plan03	DS5PlanningStage03 Stage02 report and Stage03 planning	Sorrento, mar. 07, 2006
StageFour	Oct 2006 - Mar 2007	DS5Plan04	DS5PlanningStage04 Stage03 report and Stage04 planning	Strasbourg, sep. 04, 2006
StageFive	Apr 2007 - Sep 2007	DS5Plan05	DS5PlanningStage05 Stage04 report and Stage05 planning	Garching, mar. 12, 2007
StageSix	Oct 2007 - Mar 2008	DS5Plan06	DS5PlanningStage06 Stage05 report and Stage06 planning	Edinburgh, oct. 08, 2007
StageSeven	Apr 2008 - Sep 2008	DS5Plan07	DS5PlanningStage07 Stage06 report and Stage07 planning	Strasbourg, mar. 17, 2008
StageEight	Oct 2008 - Dec 2008	DS5PlanEnd?	DS5PlanningStage08 Stage07 report and final planning	Cambridge, sep. 30, 2008

Ontologies and knowledge bases

We have performed a survey of existing formal and informal ontologies in other disciplines, as part of an OntologySurvey.

A list of OntologyUseCases has been defined.

From UML to ontologies

Ontologies have been developed from UML for:

• VOEvent
• STC
• Characterisation

Application to VOEvent-related use cases, with knowledge bases:

• Note on the generation of RDF from VOEvent XML: VoEventRDFnotes
• SPARQL queries: VoEventSPARQLNotes
• SERQL queries: VoEventSERQLnotes

Use of ontologies for AccessControlUseCases

Ontology of astronomical object types

• Description and download OWL files of the OntologyOfObjectTypes.
• Related OntologyOfObjectTypesUseCases

In developing this ontology, we have relied on DescriptionLogics, and performed InferenceEngineTests .

SKUA, practical semantics

Other resource discovery activities

MEx

MEx was developed after an analysis of other tools like SAADA or DAL toolkit/DM Mapper.

Homogeneous data retrieval

The different tools are available from SedConstruction2 (following early work on SED construction).

• RegistryQueryTool : query registries from UCDs
• DataExtractionTool : extract homogeneous data from multiple catalogues
• CAMEA, a Characterization editor based on a Characterisation Library
• A dedicated tool for radio SED analysis Specfind

Object names extraction

CDS Portal

A first prototype of CDS portal is available.

Meetings and Telecons

• ProtegeConference2005 : feedback from the 8th Protégé conference
• ISWC2005 : feedback from the ISWC 2005: 4th international semantic web conference
• SW Interop Workshop 2006-03 A `Semantic Interoperability workshop at Imperial College, 20 March 2006.
• ESWC2006 : comments, notes and feedback from the ESWC'06: 3rd European Semantic Web Conference
• IAU SPS3, Prague, august 2007
• ISWC2006 : random notes from the 5th International Semantic Web Conference
• ESWC2007 : notes from the 2007 European Semantic Web conference
• AHM07 : notes from the 2007 UK e-Science All-Hands meeting

See also...

Project communication

• Forum: http://forum.eurovotech.org/viewforum.php?f=6
• Mailing list is ds5@eurovotech.org
  • see http://forum.eurovotech.org/viewtopic.php?t=6 for subscription instrcutions

• List of deliverables as part of the ProjectContract
  • ResourceDiscoveryPrototype1
  • Resource discovery Study Report
  • ResourceDiscoveryPrototype2^?

Useful resources and studies

• IrdBooks: books which might prove useful
• IrdSites: other sites which deal with semantic resource discovery or related topics
• OntologySurvey: links, papers, and review of ontology use in research
• eXist: study and tests on this XML database

Early Intelligent resource discovery

• IRD at VOTechKickoff meeting:
  • presentations
  • DS5 workshop minutes