For Partners

How can I use the service?

Unregistered Users

Everyone is welcome to search and reuse vocabularies or parts of them that are published on Semantics.gr using the linked data and the APIs provided here. The RDF/XML and J-SON LD files are available for every vocabulary in the vocabulary’s page.

Registered Users

Other use options are available to certified/registered users. An agreement is first signed between EKT and the entity that wants to use the advanced functionalities. Then, the partner institution appoints one or more representatives who are granted permissions. Accredited users have access to an integrated and user-friendly environment where they can create, curate, link and publish their vocabularies and re-use them in their cataloguing and enrichment processes.

Creating and publishing a vocabulary

An accredited user has the right to create, curate and publish vocabularies in a standardised way. The user can choose from the range of data models and schemata offered as the basis for the creation of a new vocabulary. Vocabulary schemata in Semantics.gr should cover most of a user’s cataloguing needs. If, however, a partner’s needs are somewhat different, the user, with the support of EKT can adjust or extend an existing model or schema in a way that fits his/her particular cataloguing needs.

The vocabulary schema chosen by the user defines the cataloguing forms/entry forms where the vocabulary’s semantic resources will be created and curated, including relevant control mechanisms for the constraints set by the particular schema for individual attributes. The resulting cataloguing forms are particularly user-friendly and can be used also by non-experts in RDF, OWL and data models. In addition, it is possible to insert annotations in the forms, therefore, supporting collaborative curation processes.

Once completed, a vocabulary is published on Semantics.gr and can be re-used by anyone via the online portal and the Web APIs. In order to be published, a vocabulary page is created that includes a set of descriptive metadata including the partner institution that is responsible for it, the contributors, a description and a licence.

Access to customised Web APIs

An accredited user can use the available Web API in order to recall the vocabularies she has created or any vocabulary published by other parties from their digital content management systems (cataloguing systems, repositories, epublishing platforms, etc). Semantics.gr can be configured to populate targeted fields with a set of controlled values from a particular source vocabulary. The RESTful API automatically confines dynamic search options within the values of the semantic resources of the pre-defined set of vocabularies. The APIs can be used in a cataloguing/archiving form to make it easy for a user to insert values from semantic resources that pertain to a particular vocabulary published in Semantics.gr

Benefits of using Semantics.gr

By using Semantics.gr to create and host a vocabulary, our partners:

  • are provided with a user-friendly environment to create, manage and publish vocabularies in a standardised way
  • publish vocabularies conformant to well-established semantic web standards
  • create re-usable semantic resources
  • can interlink their collections with relevant digital collections from 3rd parties that use the same vocabularies
  • can offer improved search and browsing options for their digital collections
  • improve the sustainability of their cataloguing practices and can lower cataloguing costs
  • become part of a movement that embraces open access to knowledge resources in the Digital Public Space and enhance the overall quality of the global web of knowledge

EKT offers

  • vocabulary hosting
  • maintenance, upgrade and further development of the service
  • learning and support resources (guides, guidelines, video tutorials)
  • webinars
  • remote support and troubleshooting
  • promotion of the vocabularies and the partnership via our large national and international network

Semantics.gr is offered for free to the partners with the aim to lower the barriers for everyone to populate the semantic web with high quality standardised and re-usable vocabularies.

Vocabulary re-use policies

A partner that creates a vocabulary needs to attribute to it an open, standardised and machine-readable license. The very nature of publishing Linked Open Data in the Semantic Web is to enable re-use of the data and enhance their interlinking. We, therefore strongly advise you to adopt an as open license as possible (with minimum re-use restrictions) such as the following:

Accordingly, any party that wants to use, adapt or extend an existing vocabulary, should respect the potential restrictions raised by that license.