]> Sean Bechhofer Alistair Miles An RDF vocabulary for describing the basic structure and content of concept schemes such as thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading lists, taxonomies, 'folksonomies', other types of controlled vocabulary, and also concept schemes embedded in glossaries and terminologies. Participants in W3C's Semantic Web Deployment Working Group. Dave Beckett Nikki Rogers SKOS Core Vocabulary alternative label 2008-05-xx Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel). An alternative lexical label for a resource. The range of skos:altLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. definition 2008-05-xx A statement or formal explanation of the meaning of a concept. hidden label 2008-05-xx A lexical label for a resource that should be hidden when generating visual displays of the resource, but should still be accessible to free text search operations. The range of skos:hiddenLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. preferred label 2008-05-xx No two concepts in the same concept scheme may have the same value for skos:prefLabel in a given language. The preferred lexical label for a resource, in a given language. The range of skos:prefLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. broader match 2008-05-xx skos:broadMatch is used to state a hierarchical mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes. has broader 2008-05-xx A concept that is more general in meaning. Broader concepts are typically rendered as parents in a concept hierarchy (tree). By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources. broader transitive 2008-05-xx By convention, skos:broaderTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application. skos:broaderTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader. change note 2008-05-xx A note about a modification to a concept. exact match 2008-05-xx skos:closeMatch is used to link two concepts that are sufficiently similar that they can be used interchangeably in some information retrieval applications. In order to avoid the possibility of "compound errors" when combining mappings across more than two concept schemes, skos:closeMatch is not declared to be a transitive property. definition 2008-05-xx A statement or formal explanation of the meaning of a concept. editorial note 2008-05-xx A note for an editor, translator or maintainer of the vocabulary. exact match 2008-05-xx skos:exactMatch is disjoint with each of the properties skos:broadMatch and skos:relatedMatch. skos:exactMatch is used to link two concepts, indicating a high degree of confidence that the concepts can be used interchangeably across a wide range of information retrieval applications. skos:exactMatch is a transitive property, and is a sub-property of skos:closeMatch. example 2008-05-xx An example of the use of a concept. has top concept 2008-05-xx A top level concept in the concept scheme. history note 2008-05-xx A note about the past state/use/meaning of a concept. in scheme 2008-05-xx A concept may be a member of more than one concept scheme. A concept scheme in which the concept is included. mapping relation 2008-05-xx Definition These concept mapping relations mirror semantic relations, and the data model defined below is similar (with the exception of skos:exactMatch) to the data model defined for semantic relations. A distinct vocabulary is provided for concept mapping relations, to provide a convenient way to differentiate links within a concept scheme from links between concept schemes. However, this pattern of usage is not a formal requirement of the SKOS data model, and relies on informal definitions of best practice. member 2008-05-xx A member of a collection. member list 2008-05-xx An RDF list containing the members of an ordered collection. For any resource, every item in the list given as the value of the skos:memberList property is also a value of the skos:member property. narrower match 2008-05-xx skos:narrowMatch is used to state a hierarchical mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes. has narrower 2008-05-xx A concept that is more specific in meaning. By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources. Narrower concepts are typically rendered as children in a concept hierarchy (tree). narrower transitive 2008-05-xx skos:narrowerTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader. By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not intended to be used in assertions, but provides a mechanism whereby the transitive closure of skos:narrower can be queried. By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application. note 2008-05-xx A general note, for any purpose. This property may be used directly, or as a super-property for more specific note types. related to 2008-05-xx A concept with which there is an associative semantic relationship. skos:related is disjoint with skos:broaderTransitive related match 2008-05-xx skos:relatedMatch is used to state an associative mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes. scope note 2008-05-xx A note that helps to clarify the meaning of a concept. semantic relation 2008-05-xx A concept related by meaning. This property should not be used directly, but as a super-property for all properties denoting a relationship of meaning between concepts. top concept in scheme 2008-05-xx Relates a concept to the concept scheme that it is a top level concept of. alternative label 2008-05-xx Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel). An alternative lexical label for a resource. The range of skos:altLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. hidden label 2008-05-xx A lexical label for a resource that should be hidden when generating visual displays of the resource, but should still be accessible to free text search operations. The range of skos:hiddenLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. notation 2008-05-xx A notation, also known as classification code, is a string of characters such as "T58.5" or "303.4833" used to uniquely identify a concept within the scope of a given concept scheme. By convention, skos:notation is used with a typed literal in the object position of the triple. preferred label 2008-05-xx No two concepts in the same concept scheme may have the same value for skos:prefLabel in a given language. The preferred lexical label for a resource, in a given language. The range of skos:prefLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. Collection 2008-05-xx A meaningful collection of concepts. Labelled collections can be used with collectable semantic relation properties e.g. skos:narrower, where you would like a set of concepts to be displayed under a 'node label' in the hierarchy. Concept 2008-05-xx An abstract idea or notion; a unit of thought. Concept Scheme 2008-05-xx A concept scheme may be defined to include concepts from different sources. A set of concepts, optionally including statements about semantic relationships between those concepts. Thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading lists, taxonomies, 'folksonomies', and other types of controlled vocabulary are all examples of concept schemes. Concept schemes are also embedded in glossaries and terminologies. Ordered Collection 2008-05-xx An ordered collection of concepts, where both the grouping and the ordering are meaningful. Ordered collections can be used with collectable semantic relation properties, where you would like a set of concepts to be displayed in a specific order, and optionally under a 'node label'. Collection 2008-05-xx A meaningful collection of concepts. Labelled collections can be used with collectable semantic relation properties e.g. skos:narrower, where you would like a set of concepts to be displayed under a 'node label' in the hierarchy. Concept 2008-05-xx An abstract idea or notion; a unit of thought. Concept Scheme 2008-05-xx A concept scheme may be defined to include concepts from different sources. A set of concepts, optionally including statements about semantic relationships between those concepts. Thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading lists, taxonomies, 'folksonomies', and other types of controlled vocabulary are all examples of concept schemes. Concept schemes are also embedded in glossaries and terminologies. Ordered Collection 2008-05-xx An ordered collection of concepts, where both the grouping and the ordering are meaningful. Ordered collections can be used with collectable semantic relation properties, where you would like a set of concepts to be displayed in a specific order, and optionally under a 'node label'. alternative label 2008-05-xx Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel). An alternative lexical label for a resource. The range of skos:altLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. broader match 2008-05-xx skos:broadMatch is used to state a hierarchical mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes. has broader 2008-05-xx A concept that is more general in meaning. Broader concepts are typically rendered as parents in a concept hierarchy (tree). By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources. broader transitive 2008-05-xx By convention, skos:broaderTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application. skos:broaderTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader. change note 2008-05-xx A note about a modification to a concept. exact match 2008-05-xx skos:closeMatch is used to link two concepts that are sufficiently similar that they can be used interchangeably in some information retrieval applications. In order to avoid the possibility of "compound errors" when combining mappings across more than two concept schemes, skos:closeMatch is not declared to be a transitive property. definition 2008-05-xx A statement or formal explanation of the meaning of a concept. editorial note 2008-05-xx A note for an editor, translator or maintainer of the vocabulary. exact match 2008-05-xx skos:exactMatch is disjoint with each of the properties skos:broadMatch and skos:relatedMatch. skos:exactMatch is used to link two concepts, indicating a high degree of confidence that the concepts can be used interchangeably across a wide range of information retrieval applications. skos:exactMatch is a transitive property, and is a sub-property of skos:closeMatch. example 2008-05-xx An example of the use of a concept. has top concept 2008-05-xx A top level concept in the concept scheme. hidden label 2008-05-xx A lexical label for a resource that should be hidden when generating visual displays of the resource, but should still be accessible to free text search operations. The range of skos:hiddenLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. history note 2008-05-xx A note about the past state/use/meaning of a concept. in scheme 2008-05-xx A concept may be a member of more than one concept scheme. A concept scheme in which the concept is included. mapping relation 2008-05-xx Definition These concept mapping relations mirror semantic relations, and the data model defined below is similar (with the exception of skos:exactMatch) to the data model defined for semantic relations. A distinct vocabulary is provided for concept mapping relations, to provide a convenient way to differentiate links within a concept scheme from links between concept schemes. However, this pattern of usage is not a formal requirement of the SKOS data model, and relies on informal definitions of best practice. member 2008-05-xx A member of a collection. member list 2008-05-xx An RDF list containing the members of an ordered collection. For any resource, every item in the list given as the value of the skos:memberList property is also a value of the skos:member property. narrower match 2008-05-xx skos:narrowMatch is used to state a hierarchical mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes. has narrower 2008-05-xx A concept that is more specific in meaning. By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources. Narrower concepts are typically rendered as children in a concept hierarchy (tree). narrower transitive 2008-05-xx skos:narrowerTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader. By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not intended to be used in assertions, but provides a mechanism whereby the transitive closure of skos:narrower can be queried. By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application. notation 2008-05-xx A notation, also known as classification code, is a string of characters such as "T58.5" or "303.4833" used to uniquely identify a concept within the scope of a given concept scheme. By convention, skos:notation is used with a typed literal in the object position of the triple. note 2008-05-xx A general note, for any purpose. This property may be used directly, or as a super-property for more specific note types. preferred label 2008-05-xx No two concepts in the same concept scheme may have the same value for skos:prefLabel in a given language. The preferred lexical label for a resource, in a given language. The range of skos:prefLabel is the class of RDF plain literals. skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel and skos:hiddenLabel are pairwise disjoint properties. related to 2008-05-xx A concept with which there is an associative semantic relationship. skos:related is disjoint with skos:broaderTransitive related match 2008-05-xx skos:relatedMatch is used to state an associative mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes. scope note 2008-05-xx A note that helps to clarify the meaning of a concept. semantic relation 2008-05-xx A concept related by meaning. This property should not be used directly, but as a super-property for all properties denoting a relationship of meaning between concepts. top concept in scheme 2008-05-xx Relates a concept to the concept scheme that it is a top level concept of.