Topic outline

  • General

    Semantic Web  (5 cr)

    The idea of the course is to get to know the idea of semantic web, the technologies, and its application prospects, and learn how to use the programming tools of the area in practice. The course is open to students at Aalto University and the University of Helsinki (UH) under the auspices of HELDIG – Helsinki Centre for Digital Humanities.

    Lectures:  Lectures will be given in hall T5 - A133, CS Building starting from 11.1.2023

    Exercises: The course has mandatory exercises. The assignments are returned using the A+ platform. Voluntary  exercise sessions will be arranged as specified in the section "Assignments" on the left in hall Y338 at the Candidate Center.

    Enrolling the course

    For the students of Aalto University, the course is compulsory in the Web Technologies, Applications and Science track of the Computer Science major in the Master's Programme in Computer, Communication and Information Sciences. You can enroll the course as usual in Sisu.

    For the students of the University of Helsinki, the course can be included in the Digital Humanities studies at HELDIG, or as an additional course according to the study programme regulations at your own study programme. (Please, check your own study programme before enrolling the course.) To enroll the course as a student of UH, please send an email about this to prof. Eero Hyvönen (eero.hyvonen[at]helsinki.fi).

    Course Contents

    Linked Data and ontologies have become main stream technologies for integrating data from different data sources, for publishing data, and for creating intelligent application on  the Semantic Web. This technology has become ever more important, e.g., in Digital Humanities and various other application areas. For example, museums, libraries, and archives use Linked Data in content portals, such as Europeana. To get an idea about applications of Semantic Web technologies and their use in Digital Humanities, have a look at this video  about the "Warsampo - Finnish WW2 on the Semantic Web" , about "LetterSampo - Historical Letters on the Semantic Web" , and this video   about yet another Sampo-portal in use, "BiographySampo - Artificial Intelligence Reading Finnish Biographies on the Semantic Web". 

    The core content of the course consists of the essentials of Linked Data and Semantic Web technologies and standards such as Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL). Rule systems, ontology techniques and Semantic Web tools and applications will also be covered. The theoretical part of the course will be complemented by practical exercises (cf. section Assigments).

    Passing the course

    The course has the following mandatory parts:

    • Exercises
    • Examination

    The grading is  pass-reject.

    Examinations

    The next exams will be announced later. Advice for preparing for the exam will be available on a separate  section "Study Materials: Preparing for the Exam" on the left.

    Teachers and contact information

    Lectures: Eero Hyvönen 
    Exercises: Heikki Rantala and Annastiina Ahola (firstname.lastname@aalto.fi)
    Responsible professor: Eero Hyvönen

    The email address of the course staff is: cs-e4410 (at) aalto.fi. If you need advice about the exercises, please consider using the course discussion forum or Zulip chat so that the answers can be shared with all participants.