The Semantic Web is getting closer. Following a tip from Danny Ayers, I spent a bit of time checking out a wikipedia-esque site called Wiki@OntoWorld that is experimenting with the ability to add easy semantic markup to wiki entries. The markup is transparent to users, but adds machine-rich data that can be used for organization and classification.

To see how easy it might be, I copied text from Wikipedia and created a Colorado Springs semantic entry on Wiki@OntoWorld. (The only trouble I had was with some non-informative error messages when I bungled some of the semantic constructs. This just meant I had to type more carefully and find my mistakes one wiki tag a time.)

The awesome thing about this approach is that there is only a tiny extra learning curve on top of using a wiki: that of the semantic attributes defined in the ontology they use. (things like “is a city”, “is located in”, “is a county seat”, etc.) You then get a human-friendly web page that also generates a machine-friendly RDF description. Truly the best of both worlds.

Along with structured blogging, I have to say this is the best thing I’ve personally seen toward practically building a semantic web. If Wikipedia itself used this semantic plugin… it would instantly become the backbone of the Semantic Web.