RDF Object Type and Reification in Oracle

Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a standard for representing information that can be identified using a Universal Resource Identifier. In particular, it is intended for representing metadata about Web resources. RDF is being used in numerous application areas, including Life Sciences, Digital Libraries, and Intelligence. The RDF data structure is a directed graph or network. Current solutions to managing RDF data utilize flat relational tables for database storage. This paper presents an alternative approach to managing RDF data in the database. We introduce a new Oracle object type for storing RDF data. The object type is built on top of the Oracle Spatial Network Data Model (NDM), which is Oracle’s network solution in the database. This exposes the NDM functionality to RDF data, allowing RDF data to be managed as objects and analysed as networks. Reification, a means of providing metadata for the RDF data, puts a strain on storage. We present a streamlined approach to representing reified RDF data for faster retrievals. An RDF object type and reification in Oracle provide the basic infrastructure for effective metadata management.