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As part of a wider Semantic Web project it has officially recommended the adoption of two new standards: Resource Description Framework (RDF) and the Ontology Web Language (OWL). The goal is help better manage the storage of information on the Web so that its retrieval can be automated more effectively, for example by intelligent agents with specific search briefs.

In the words of Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee, 'The Semantic Web is an extension of the current web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation.'

'RDF and OWL make a strong foundation for Semantic Web applications,' said Berners-Lee, who is a W3C Director, welcoming the latest standards. 'Their approval as W3C Recommendations come at a time when new products spring up in areas as diverse

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as Enterprise Integration and medical decision support. It's not unlike the early days of the Web, when once people saw how it worked, they understood its power. We're entering that phase now, where people can see the beginnings of the Semantic Web at work.'

Data about data - so called meta-data - could provide basic details about documents, such as date of creation and authorship, but also more complex items of information, such as industry-specific knowledge (different fields of work will have their own XML-based 'ontology' defined). Pictures by a historic artist, for example, could be accompanied by wider curatorial information such as other artists of influence and related schools of style.

The problem that is being addressed could be termed the 'dark age of digital technology' - that without greater organisation, through agreed standardisation, masses of meaningful online data will be lost to us. With ever increasing volumes of documents being placed online, the ability of search engines to make sense of the available material will diminish. When we search for Rembrandt, for example, do we really want to know about the Rembrandt Hotel in London? The new standards are designed to address such issues.

You can find more details on the W3C site, for both the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Ontology Web Language (OWL).