UMBC CMSC 491/691s Spring 2009
Special Topics: The Semantic Web

Assignment One

Due Tuesday 3 February

This is a simple assignment to get you thinking about the semantic web by diving right in. You are to create a profile describing yourself in RDF using the friend of a friend (FOAF) vocabulary. FOAF is probably the most widely used RDF vocabulary on the Web. It defines a few simple classes and properties that allow us to say basic things about people, e.g., their name, email address, employer, blog URL, as well as simple relationships between people (e.g., who knows who).

(1) You might start by using FOAF-a-Matic, a simple Javascript application that allows you to create a FOAF descriptions.

(2) Take the XML that it generates and paste it into a file. Put the file onto your website somewhere where it's publicly accessible, it's a good idea to name this file "foaf.rdf" as then a google search can be used to help discover FOAF files across the web.

(3) Add some additional properties that are included in the FOAF Vocabulary Specification.

(4) Use the W3C RDF validation service to ensure that your RDF is valid.

(5) Edit the assignment one results page on the class Google Group to link to your profile. Edit this page by finding your name on it and linking it to your FOAF profile. Add you name if you don't find it.

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