Fuzzy RDF: A data model to represent fuzzy metadata

Abstract

Resource Description Framework (RDF) together with RDF Schema (RDFS) is important Semantic Web standards proposed from W3C. RDF is a knowledge representation language to deal with hard semantics in the description and manipulation of crisp metadata. However, information is often vague or ambiguous. Many metadata are fuzzy by nature, and the Semantic Web should be capable to represent fuzzy data. In this paper, a fuzzy RDF data model is presented including fuzzy RDF syntax and fuzzy RDF semantics. A distinctive feature of fuzzy RDF data model, which is based on fuzzy logic theory, is able to deal with special data whose values are no more crisp values, but may be a fuzzy set.