SWSE: Objects before documents!

Abstract

Web search engines are immensely useful for locating documents online. However, with more and more structured data being published online, the restriction to the hyperdocument model impairs the usefulness for searching and browsing. In contrast, an object-orientated model provides means to firstly integrate data about the same object from multiple sources, and secondly enable expressive queries over the integrated information space. We present SWSE, a search engine over 1.1 billion statements published on the Semantic Web. The system provides an easy-to-use end-user interface through which users can find and navigate an object-orientated information space. In addition, the system exposes the data via a full SPARQL REST service which is open for application developers to query and integrate data in own applications.