A Semantic Wiki Based Light-Weight Web Application Model

Wikis are a well-known Web 2.0 content management platform. The recent introduction of semantic wikis extends the capabilities of conventional wikis by allowing users to edit and query structured semantic annotations (e.g., categories and typed links) rather than plain wiki text. This new feature, as shown in this paper, supports the provision of a novel, transparent, and light-weight social Web application model. This model enables developers to collectively build Web applications using semantic wikis, supporting such capabilities as data modeling, data management, data processing and data presentation. The source scripts and data of such applications are transparent to Web users. Beyond a generic description for the Web application model, we show two proof-of-concept prototypes, namely RPI Map and CNL (Controlled Natural Language) Wiki, both of which are based on Semantic MediaWiki (SMW).