Annotation Profiles: Configuring Forms to Edit RDF

Abstract

Most of today's generic annotation tools for Semantic Web metadata (RDF) are designed for experts. People with no or little knowledge about RDF are therefore forced to use simplified and often domain-specific tools that work with fixed sets of metadata elements. This paper introduces the Annotation Profile Model as a configuration mechanism from which annotation tools can be automatically generated. The intention is to encourage metadata- or domain experts to define annotation profiles according to metadata standards/schemas or combinations thereof. This will allow end-users or administrators to select appropriate annotation profiles for the task at hand, and then an editor will be provided by the underlying system. This paper discusses the design of the Annotation Profile Model, which consists of a data-capturing part (the Graph Pattern Model) and a presentation part (the Form Template model). An implementation that can generate both Web-based and standalone editors is also introduced.