RDF, Ontologies and Meta-Data Workshop

07 June, 06 09:00 - 09 June, 06 17:30, e-Science Institute 15 South College Street, , Edinburgh
Organiser: Jessie Kennedy

This workshop is part of the eScience Research Theme ' Exploiting Diverse Sources of Scientific Data'.

Meta-data appears as a recurring theme across scientific domains as being the most important thing that needs to be captured in order that data may be integrated. This is particularly important when data is to be used for purposes unforeseen when the data was collected and to ensure longevity in the data. Closely associated with meta-data are ontologies giving semantics to the meta-data and or data. Ontologies may also help in the automation of the integration process and improve the accuracy with which integration is undertaken.

As RDF is a technology central to the semantic web, meta-data and ontologies and therefore potentially of importance in Exploiting Diverse Sources of Scientific Data, this workshop will commence with a tutorial on RDF presented by Oracle. During this workshop participants will get the chance to learn about RDF, and hear about users experiences in building RDF repositories. We will investigate some of the issues in exploiting diverse sources of scientific data using RDF.

The workshop will continue by exploring the promise of meta-data and ontologies for accessing and integrating data. First we will hear about experiences from projects using these technologies to access and integrate scientific data. This will help determine the problems we think metadata and ontologies will solve for scientists. Discussion will explore where and when metadata should be used, the difference between metadata and data and whether if meta data becomes as complicated as the original data might we (re-)introduce the problems we were trying to solve. We then hope to explore what we know are existing problems in capturing, storing and interpreting metadata and ontologies and how these might be addressed. The workshop will conclude with a session discussing the reality of meta-data and ontologies as an aid to data integration and the way forward.

We have speakers from a range of scientific domains all with experience of designing, implementing or supporting meta-data or ontology based systems for data integration. If you would like to give a presentation at the workshop please contact the workshop organiser Jessie Kennedy with details. Particularly welcome will be accounts of empirical evaluation work.

The workshop dinner will be held on the 8th June at The Novotel Edinburgh, 80 Lauriston Place at 19:30.

Format of event

Presentations and discussion groups

List of speakers

Jayant Sharma and Xavier Lopez, Oracle
Dave De Roure, Southhampton University
Oscar Corcho, Manchester University
Steven Perry/Rob Gales, University of Kansas
Isao Kojima, AIST
Asunción Gómez Pérez, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Dawn Field, CEH
Trevor Paterson/Andy Law, Roslin Institute
Albert Burger, MRC
Mathew Siff - CEH Director of Environmental Informatics
Susie Stephens, Oracle
Shawn Bowers, University of California, Davis
Bryan Lawrence, CEH
Dave Thau, University of California, Davis
Daniele Turi, Univ. of Manchester - LSIDs in Taverna
Donald Hobern, GBIF
Roger Moore, CEH Head of Hydrology Modelling and Forecasting Group
Richard Wadsworth, CEH Ecological Systems Modelling Group
Richard Ostler, CEH Biological Records Centre

Target Audience

Researchers interested in exploiting diverse sources of scientific data, in particular investigating scientific data access and integration problems or the use of RDF, meta-data or ontologies for scientific data.

Programme

A programme is available at http://wiki.esi.ac.uk/RDF%2C_Ontologies_and_Meta-Data_Workshop.

Event Material

This is available at http://www.nesc.ac.uk/action/esi/contribution.cfm?Title=683.

Registration for this event is now closed. To enquire about an application or to cancel a previous application please contact NeSC Administration.

Important Dates

29 Mar - Registration Opens
31 May - Registration Deadline
31 May - Date we will respond to your application by (Please note this is the latest date we will respond to your application. It is normal policy for us to respond within 5 working days where possible.)
07 Jun - Event Starts at 09:00hrs