Could it be that Semanitic MediaWiki (SMW) is one of the most easily overlooked semantic web application for 2008? It could be, for example in a recent ReadWriteWeb review of the top 10 semantic web applications for 2008 not a single mention is made of SMW. Not surprising, SMW is actually quite stealthy in it’s appearance on the web. MediaWiki and the SMW extension and it’s companion tools (semantic forms, SMW+ etc.) comprise a very powerful semantic web application. And in my opinion one that I’d definitely put in my top 10 list. So why does it go unnoticed?
The answer is twofold. Firstly this an Open Source project. And like so many open source tools, that lead the way in groundbreaking technology, the internet hype factory is quick to forget (or not even take notice) when the marketing engines of the for profit companies ramp up.
Secondly it is the nature of SMW to remain stealthy. One can come across a site powered by Semantic MediaWiki and not even know it. There are few clues for the uninitiated. For example in reaction to the top 10 list on ReadWriteWeb, Gregory Kohs plugs MyBizWiki.com as a Semantic Web app that perhaps should have made the list. Good point Greg, however careful inspection reveals that MyBizWIki.com is actually powered by MediaWiki and the Semantic MediaWiki extnsion. There are many other SMW powered sites online today, all having the same potential as MyBizWiki in terms of building semantic relations into wiki spaces. Let’s give credit where credits due. When choosing a “best of breed” tool, do we praise the tools themselves (SMW) or the end products built with the tools? (MyBizWIki and so many other semantice wiki instances). I prefer to praise the reusable tool set, as this set of tools (SMW and it’s realted parts) can be reused by others. (for free by the way).
So how to spot an SMW powered site?
- Clue number 1: Look for the “powered by MediaWiki” logo in the lower right corner of any page. Those familiar with Wikipedia and other Mediawiki sites will also spot the all to familiar UI/navigation scheme and feature sets on the tabs.
- Clue #2: Semantic search or other semantic features in the navigation bar and/or…
- Clue #3: Look for dynamically generated tables for which when you do a “view source” or “edit this page” you see only some lightweight scripting with starts with the word “ask”. These are the dynamic queries that make Semantic MediaWiki so powerful.
- Clue #4: And finally if you want to be absolutely sure, every MediaWiki site has page that will tell you what extensions are installed. Just navigate to “spacial pages” -> “version” and look for the list of installed extensions. Or just search on “Special:Version”.
But as you may have guesed already these clues are easy to overlook. The SMW features keep a low profile and the output blends nicely with the standard MediaWiki look and feel. So am I suprised SMW didn’t make the top 10 list? No. Should it have? I think so.
Yaron Koren | 07-Jan-09 at 11:47 am | Permalink
It’s true that the lack of recognition for SMW can be frustrating, although I think looking to sources like these for validation might be a dead end. So much that’s been written about the Semantic Web is bullshit, and this ReadWriteWeb list is a prime example. Of the ten “Semantic Web products” they review, I think only two - SearchMonkey and OpenCalais - are actually Semantic Web products at all. The rest of them deal with tags and natural-language processing - interesting, perhaps, but not the Semantic Web: there’s not a triple or a piece of queriable data in sight. I suppose you could make the case that the inclusion of SMW on such a silly list would have been a bad sign.
To Semantic Web καλπάζει, η Ελλάδα δεν χαμπαριάζει, το ΚΚΕ αρνείται το Κατύν, ενώ… η Γη τη Wikipedia κατεβάζει! « OMADEON | 22-Feb-09 at 10:16 am | Permalink
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