Applying the Semantic Web as a Writer's Tool.

The process of writing and the practice of Semantic Web (SW) annotation are similar: each takes ideas and interprets them into progressively refined symbols. Drawing on this parallel, they may be mutually improved, conceptually and by the use of software tools. As an adjunct to writing, the SW will be more than a distributed data scheme and will be part of the creative process. Supported by the Semantic Web (SW), writing can be more flexible and include richer, non-linear structure. The key insight is that the basic operation of dividing a resource and commenting on the relations exposed by the division recurs throughout the process of writing. This operation is rich enough semantically to serve as the basis of interpreting and annotating text for use in the SW. This paper describes an experimental tool that supports this operation for a writer. Intentionally, the tool is minimal. The writer produces text while organizing it at the paragraph level into related, web-addressable boxes. The spatial relations of these boxes express a few general semantics, such as list membership, likeness and currency. Thus the writer annotates with informal structure, which enhances the use of annotation tools by giving identities to and relations among more narrowly focussed portions of text. The notes and relations established are useful for the writer's access to the text and provide a scaffold for revisions. In this basic use, overt URIs and RDF are avoided, as is embedded markup for data and links. In the implementation, though, boxes also contain the normally hidden RDF/N3 that describes box properties and relations. For the writer comfortable with RDF, the boxes can be used for full annotation. Looking forward, this approach lends itself naturally to support for finer-resolution collaboration. Perhaps such a technique will help writers to discover and formulate relations and thus allow texts to interoperate in the future SW.