Abstract
The SWAN project is a new approach to knowledge management in science, using semantic web (1, 2, 3) technology.
SWAN is being developed as an evolutionary modification of the current scientific knowledge ecosystem, composed of:
• scientists
• experiments
• data
• grant applications
• publications
• scientific databases
• bibliographic databases
• scientific ontologies
• biomedical research collaborations, and
• scientific web communities
SWAN applies Semantic Web technology to this existing ecosystem in a way that can (a) enhance the productivity of the ecosystem as a whole (b) benefit each human constituency to ensure uptake and socialization (c) enable websites, individual scientists and scientific laboratories to participate in virtual collaborations.
SWAN supports three principal system use cases.
1. Organize and annotate electronic research materials as integrated KBs across content types, using multiple ontologies, including the ability to create new ontologies.
2. Share electronic research materials including ontologies and annotation, organized in Use Case 1, from individuals to diverse other individuals and communities.
3. Access integrated shared electronic research materials, provided in Use Case 2, as a distributed knowledgebase, via organizational structures built in Use Case 1.
SWAN will drive the organization and integration of a powerful distributed knowledgebase in neuromedicine, through the self-organization of individuals and communities in science.
SWAN’s social objective is to enable the most effective possible global collaboration, discovery, and sharing of knowledge among researchers seeking to cure neurological disorders.
REFERENCES
1. Berners-Lee, T. (1998). "A Roadmap to the Semantic Web". (URL: http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Semantic.html)
2. Berners-Lee, T., J. Hendler, et al. (2001). "The Semantic Web." Scientific American 284(5), 34–43.
3. Hendler, J. (2003). "Science and the Semantic Web." Science 299: 520-521.