George
Mason University
School of Engineering
Department of Computer Science
CS 499 Knowledge Engineering for the
Semantic Web
Meeting
time: Monday 4:30 pm – 7:10 pm
Meeting location: Art and Design Building 2003
Instructor: Dr. Gheorghe Tecuci,
Professor of Computer Science
Office
hours: Monday 7:15 pm – 8:05 pm and
Wednesday 7:15 pm – 8:05 pm
Office: Nguyen Engineering Building, Learning Agents Center, Room 4613
Phone: 703 993 1722
E-mail: tecuci
at gmu dot edu
Course Description
Prerequisite: 60 credits and C or better in CS 310 and CS 330
Due to the development of the World
Wide Web (WWW),
virtually any information about any subject that exists almost anywhere on the
planet is available at our fingertips. This has significantly improved the way
we conduct business and share information, but it has also led to the problem
of information overload where the amount of
information we have is too vast to manage and to allow us to know what we know.
The Semantic Web is the evolution of
the current WWW that responds to this problem. In this emerging (Semantic) Web,
the content is represented in an expanded form to be understood not only by
humans, but also by software agents, permitting them to find, integrate,
process, and share information.
This course
teaches existing Semantic Web technologies and their applications, providing
you knowledge and skills that will be very valuable in your career. It covers
the basic concepts, principles, methods, architectures, and tools for the
design and development of intelligent Semantic Web applications, including
semantic modeling, ontology languages (RDF, RDFS, OWL), querying the semantic
web (SPARQL), inferencing in the Semantic Web,
managing vocabularies (SKOS), semantic markup, the publication and consumption
of Linked Data, and Semantic Web application architectures. It also covers
major applications of these semantic technologies, such as FOAF, semantic wiki,
semantic browsers, semantic search engines, DBpedia,
Rich Snippets from Google, and SearchMonkey from
Yahoo! The learning of concepts, principles and methods will be enhanced by the
practice of using several open source tools, including the Protégé ontology
development environment. An important part of the course is the development of
a project in an area of your interest, involving outside study and an oral presentation
to the class.
This course will use Blackboard (see
http://gmu.blackboard.com) to post lecture notes, papers, assignments, and grades.
Students have accounts on Blackboard and can download the PDF files by going to
courses.gmu.edu and logging in using their Mason ID and passwords.
Outcomes
·
Understanding of the Semantic Web
concepts and principles.
·
Knowledge of the ontology languages
RDF, RDFS, and OWL, and ability to design and develop semantic web ontological
models.
·
Knowledge of the query language
SPARQL and ability to author SPARQL queries.
·
Knowledge of the main Semantic Web
applications.
·
Ability to use Semantic Web tools.
·
Ability to conduct independent study
of a Semantic Web topic and present it to the class.
·
Ability to design and develop
Semantic Web applications.
Grading Policy
Class participation and assignments:
20%
Mid-term exam: 25%
Project: 25%
Final exam: 30%
Exam
Dates
Mid-term exam: Monday March 18th, 4:30pm
Final exam: Monday May 13th, 4:30pm
Main Readings
·
Allemang D. and Hendler J., Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist: Modeling in RDF, RDFS and OWL, Morgan
Kaufman, 2011. Electronic resource available from the GMU library at http://magik.gmu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1964229
·
Yu L., A Developer’s Guide to the Semantic Web, Springer-Verlag, 2011. Electronic resource available from the GMU
library. On-campus link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-642-15969-5/#section=836610&page=1 Off-campus
link: http://mutex.gmu.edu/login?URL=http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-642-15969-5/#section=836610&page=1
Other
Useful Texts
·
Hitzler P., Krotzsch M., Rudolph S., Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies,
CRC Press, 2010.
·
Heath T. and Bizer
C., Linked Data: Evolving the Web into a
Global Data Space, Morgan & Claypool Publishers, 2011, Electronic
resource available from the GMU library at http://magik.gmu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=2274472
·
Antoniou G. and Harmelen,
van F., A Semantic Web Primer, The
MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 2008, Electronic
resource available from the GMU library at http://magik.gmu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1312290
·
Breitman K.K., Casanova M.A. and Truszkowski W., Semantic Web: Concepts, Technologies and Applications,
Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007, Electronic resource available from the GMU library at http://magik.gmu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1977934
·
Other papers recommended by the instructor.
Email
Communication
1. Please include CS499 in the subject of any
message you are emailing to Dr. Tecuci.
2. Please try to limit the size of the files you are
emailing.
GMU
Email Accounts
Students must activate their GMU email accounts to
receive important University information, including messages related to this
class.
Office
of Disability Services
If you are a student with a disability and you need
academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services
(ODS) at 993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the
ODS. http://ods.gmu.edu.
Other
Useful Campus Resources
Writing Center: A114 Robinson Hall; (703) 993-1200; http://writingcenter.gmu.edu
University Libraries “Ask a Librarian” http://library.gmu.edu/mudge/IM/IMRef.html
Counseling And Psychological Services (CAPS): (703)
993-2380; http://caps.gmu.edu
University
Policies
The University Catalog, http://catalog.gmu.edu, is the central resource for university policies affecting student,
faculty, and staff conduct in university affairs.
Honor
Code
You
are expected to abide by the GMU honor code. Information on the university
honor code can be found at http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/.
Additional departmental CS information: http://cs.gmu.edu/wiki/pmwiki.php/HonorCode/CSHonorCodePolicies