SPARQLT and its user-friendly interface for querying the history of RDF knowledge bases

Gao, S.;Chen, M.;ATZORI, MAURIZIO;Gu, J.;Zaniolo, C.

2015-01-01

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Abstract

As the real world evolves, the information contained in the knowledge bases is updated accordingly and the evolution history of entities and their properties becomes of great interest to users, who thus need effective query tools to explore it. In this paper, we (i) introduce SPARQLT and its user-friendly interface for expressing powerful structured queries on the history of RDF knowledge bases, and (ii) overview its underlying query engine that supports efficient evaluation of such queries and the management of historical information. To ensure ease of use, we take a by-example structured query approach that allows users to specify queries by entering simple conditions into the Infoboxes of Wikipedia pages extended with temporal fields. From this wysiwyg interface, the system derives and executes equivalent SPARQLT queries, sparing users from having to learn the query language and the underlying knowledge base schema. Our demo will introduce SPARQLT, its system and user-friendly interface, with the help of simple and intuitive examples.