But, until recently, much of what was written about semantics described it as a near artificial intelligence, with huge implications for the Web, but precious little to add to business IT. In the past year, more has emerged about how it would actually function, but still, very little had been written about how how semantics could  be used within enterprises or other organizations. 

This year, that’s changing. Recently, I’ve found a slew of articles on this very topic, thanks in large part to two publications – the Data Strategy Journal and the spring edition of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology report – focusing exclusively on the topic. 

Reading through these pieces, I realized there’s probably a lot of misconceptions about the semantic Web and semantic tech in general — and in particular, about how this will impact businesses. In a previous article, I looked at three semantic Web myths and the corresponding realities:

In this article, as promised, I look at three more myths, each related more specifically to semantic tech and business IT: 

Myth: The semantic Web will make all of your information available to anyone – even you don’t want to share!Reality: ReadWriteWeb, in a nice summary of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on semantic technologies, points out that the report takes this myth to task:

“The problem that enterprises often face with Web technologies is the lack of control they introduce. PwC acknowledges this, but says that enterprises only need to control some data – not all of it. To take true advantage of the Web, says PwC, enterprises need to be able to take advantage of its scale — and that’s not possible without giving up some control. So PwC advises enterprises to ‘limit your controlled environment to what you don’t have to scale.’”

Myth: The semantic Web will require you to invest heavily in creating an ontology.Reality: Actually, there’s a lot of opportunity to piggyback on other people’s works, as Brian Schulte, an expert in MDM deployments, points out in the Data Strategy Journal article on MDM and semantic technology. For instance, musicontology.com and DBpedia created ontologies and made them available online. You could use those ontologies, modifying where you need to be more specific. The idea is to create a snowball effect. “Ideally, you make public the non-sensitive elements of your business-specific ontology that are consistent with your business model, so others can make use of them,” says Schulte.MDM and semantic integration.Myth: This stuff is all theory. No one’s actually doing anything with semantic technology.Reality: Oh yes, they are. Yahoo unveiled SearchMonkey, a semantic search tool, in March, and Google recently announced Google Squared, a new Labs tool that uses semantic technology for search. Google also unveiled a “Rich Snippets” enhancement to its search tool. Rich Snippets decodes two semantic standards, RDFa and microformats and, according to Tim O’Reilly, it could be a significant turning point for the Semantic web. 

But again, this isn’t just for search engines. The PricewaterhouseCoopers Tech Forecast includes a piece on how the semantic Web might be used to improve cancer treatment, discusses shared ontologies in the oil and gas industry, and offers examples of how early adopters are introducing semantic Web to the enterprise. It also includes a list of vendors who have started to incorporate semantic tools, including Microsoft and Oracle. 

Hopefully, you’ve found this list of six myths and their corresponding realities helpful. I suspect we’ll hear more later this month on how semantic technologies can be applied in an enterprise setting, since the SemTech Conference 2009 is scheduled for June 14-19 in San Jose, California. The program includes a number of sessions focused on how semantic technology can be used to solve existing business problems.

1. Sign up for a google account (it’s free and easy!).

You can use google dot com or your local google (such as the UK google).

Do you have a google account?

If so, please sign in and skip ahead to number 2.

Google will now send you an email, to make sure that your email address was correct. Check your emails and read the one from google. Click on the confirmation link in the email. You will be taken back to the google site which will tell you:

Email Address Verified

Thank you for verifying your Google account. Your account is now activated.

Well Done!

Now click on Click here to continue. You are now signed in and will see your email address at the top of the page. You’ve done the hard bit!

2. Start adding content

At last we can add the content and personalise your page! In the top left hand corner of the google page is a link saying Add content ». Click on this. You can now start clicking on any item and adding content. Just click on add it now underneath something that interests you and it will be added to your page!

Simple!

3. More personal content

Around the web you can find google modules that are useful. These have to be added by URL. To do this first find a google module that you want to use on the net – for example, there is an amazon search box located at http://www.concepttshirts.co.uk/googlegadgets/amazonussearch.xml

Using this as an example, copy the address above and go back to your main google page. In the top left hand corner of the google page is the link saying Add content ». Click on this as you did before. The page now has a google logo, a search box, a button marked Search homepage content and a smaller link to the right of the big button that says Add by URL. Click on this. You will now be prompted for a webaddress starting with http://

3. Paste the URL into the box.

Paste the URL into the box on the google page that starts with http:// .Make sure you don’t have two lots of http:// by mistake. Either delete the one in the box, or do not paste it in.

4. Almost there!

Click Add. Google will then start the process of making your personal homepage. It will ask you: You are about to add a feature that was not created by google… Just click on OK.

5. See it in action!

Now click on Back to homepage in the top left hand corner, and you will return to your google homepage, personalised for you!

6. More.

You can repeat this process as often as you want. Enjoy!