Institute for Discrete Sciences Workshop on Associating Semantics with Graphs

April 16 - 17, 2007
The DyDAn Center at the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS), Rutgers University

Organizers:
Alex Borgida (co-chair), Rutgers University
Claire Cardie, Cornell University
Hans Chalupsky (co-chair), Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California
Jiawei Han, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Scott Kohn, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories
Peter Patel-Schneider (co-chair), Bell Labs
Presented under the auspices of the Institute for Discrete Sciences, led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and its affiliated DHS centers of excellence based at Rutgers University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California.

Graphs labeled with text are a ubiquitous information presentation mechanism, with a long history (e.g., see Sowa's historical review of semantic network antecedents), all the way back to the Tree of Prophyry. They are often favored in computational circles because they offer simple and elegant mathematical foundations and data structures. The usefulness of algorithms for manipulating graphs with text relies on the intended meaning of the graphs. Graphical representation techniques (such as social networks, semantic graphs, the RDF Resource Description Format, and early AI semantic networks and their descendants) differ widely in the extent to which this meaning ("semantics") is made explicit, formal or augmented.

The goal of this workshop is to bring together representatives of communities interested in graphical representations of knowledge. Our intent is for this workshop to provide a forum for these communities to share formalisms, problems, techniques, tools, and applications (particularly those of potential interest to the DHS Institute for Discrete Sciences). We will place particular, but not exclusive, emphasis on "semantic" aspects.

General topics of interest include:

  • The status of graph formalisms for representing information
  • Operations, tools and algorithms for graph formalisms
  • Semantics for graph formalisms and their operations
  • Relationships between graph-based and logic-based representations (i.e. advantages, disadvantages, translation, query languages, etc.)
  • Augmenting graph formalisms (with ontologies or rules, for example)
  • Extracting information from text, databases, the WWW, etc. into graphs, with emphasis on explicating the intended meaning of the results
  • Problems of size and dynamic change related to graph formalisms and reasoning with them
  • Fielded applications and experience with them.

    •  

    Next: Call for Participation
    Workshop Index
    DyDAn Homepage
    Contacting DyDAn

    Document last modified on January 10, 2007.