The development of the RDF[2] standard highlights the fact that a great deal of useful information is in the form of semistructured data--objects connected by relations fitting no rigorous schema. To make use of this information it is important to be able to search and browse semistructured data repositories. In this paper, we present a framework, system, and user interface supporting navigation in such repositories. The system is general purpose, involving no hard-coded assumptions about the structure of the repository. The focus is on providing users with helpful "next steps" leading them to the information they are seeking. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3 [Information Search]: Information Search and Retrieval; H.3.3 [Information Search and Retrieval]: Query formulation; H.4.3 [Communications Applications]: Information browsers Keywords Navigation, searching/browsing, information retrieval, semistructured data, metadata, semantics
Vineet Sinha, David R. Karger, David Huynh