Hyperdata are data objects linked to other data objects in other places, as

hypertext Hypertext is text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references ( hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typically ...

indicates text linked to other text in other places. Hyperdata enables formation of a web of data, evolving from the "data on the Web" that is not inter-related (or at least, not linked). In the same way that ''hypertext'' usually refers to the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...

but is a broader term, ''hyperdata'' usually refers to the Semantic Web, but may also be applied more broadly to other data-linking technologies such as

microformat Microformats (μF) are a set of defined HTML classes created to serve as consistent and descriptive metadata about an element, designating it as representing a certain type of data (such as contact information, geographic coordinates, events ...

s – including XHTML Friends Network. A hypertext link indicates that a link exists between two documents or "information resources". Hyperdata links go beyond simply such a connection, and express

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...

about the kind of connection being made. For instance, in a document about

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, a hypertext link might be made from the word ''senator'' to a document about the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. In contrast, a hyperdata link from the same word to the same document might also state that senator was one of Hillary Clinton's roles, titles, or positions (depending on the

ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophy, philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, Becoming (philosophy), becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into Category ...

being used to define this link).

Semantic Web

The Semantic Web introduces the controversial concept of links to non-data resources. In the Semantic Web, links are not limited to "information resources" or documents, such as the typical Web page. Hyperdata links may refer to a physical structure (e.g., "the Eiffel Tower"), a place ("Champ de Mars" where the Eiffel Tower stands), a person (

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

, the man responsible for the tower's construction), or other "non-information resources". It is worth noting that the links in this article are hypertext, not hyperdata, and they all lead to documents which describe the entities named. A hyperdata browser (also called a Semantic

Web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...

), is a browser used to navigate the Semantic Web. Semantic Web architecture does not necessarily involve the

HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaS ...

document format, which typical HTML Web browsers rely upon. A hyperdata browser specifically requests RDF data from

Web servers A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initiates ...

, often through

content negotiation Content negotiation refers to mechanisms defined as a part of HTTP that make it possible to serve different versions of a document (or more generally, representations of a resource) at the same URI, so that user agents can specify which version f ...

or ''conneg'', starting from the same URL as the traditional Web browser; the Web server may immediately return the requested RDF, or it may deliver a redirection to a new URI where the RDF may actually be found, or the RDF may be embedded in the same HTML document which would be returned to a Web browser which did not request RDF. The RDF data will generally describe the resource represented by the originally requested URI. The hyperdata browser then renders the information received as an HTML page that contains

hyperlinks In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text wi ...

for users to navigate to indicated resources.

References

{{Semantic Web Hypertext Hypermedia Electronic literature

Semantic Web

See also

References