Prosopographic Modelling

In the following HowTo, you will familiarise yourself with the basic terminology used in prosopographic data modelling and Semantic Web, in relation to the projects NAMPI and VieCPro. These main concepts are introduced: ontologies, vocabularies, RDF (Resource Description Framework), OWL (Web Ontology Language), SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organisation System), SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language), LOD (Linked Open Data) and LOD-cloud.

This resource gives an introduction to the possibilities of prosopographic data modelling of individuals in the Semantic Web (i.e. ascribing events, relations, or dates to individuals using semantic technologies). You will gain an understanding of how information can be recorded about individuals. After a general introduction to the main concepts such as class vs. instance/individual and external reference resources, you can explore exercises taken from the NAMPI and VieCPro projects.

This resource expands on the concept of ontologies in the Semantic Web as a "formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualization" (Studer et al, 1998). You can explore examples of ontologies by engaging with exercises which illustrate how classes and properties represent these concepts in the NAMPI and VieCPro projects, illustrating how ontologies are used in prosopographic data modelling.

The resource explores the distinction between the general concept vocabularies and controlled vocabularies. You will learn how a controlled vocabulary is used "to organize knowledge for subsequent retrieval" in prosopographic data modelling and for which purposes it is utilised. You are encouraged to apply tools such as SKOS on sample datasets from the NAMPI and VieCPro projects, illustrating the range of potential applications of Linked Open Vocabularies in the Semantic Web.