Multidimensional RDF

Abstract

RDF has been proposed by W3C as a metadata model and language for representing information about resources in WWW. In this paper we introduce Multidimensional RDF (or MRDF), as an extension of RDF, suitable for representing context-dependent RDF data. In MRDF we have a set of dimensions whose values define different contexts (or worlds) under which different parts of an RDF graph may hold. We define the semantics of MRDF in terms of the semantics of RDF. Additionally, we propose appropriate extensions, suitable for representing MRDF graphs in triples notation and RDF/XML syntax. Finally, we demonstrate how an MRDF graph, embodying a single time dimension, can be used to model the history of a conventional RDF graph.