Bridging the Semantic Gap between RDF and SPARQL using Completeness Statements [Extended Version]

TL;DR

This paper addresses the semantic gap between RDF and SPARQL caused by differing assumptions about data completeness, proposing a method using completeness statements to reconcile certain and possible answers.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach leveraging completeness statements to bridge the semantic gap between RDF's open-world and SPARQL's closed-world assumptions.

Findings

Completeness statements improve answer accuracy in RDF queries.

The approach effectively reconciles open-world and closed-world reasoning.

Experimental results demonstrate enhanced query answer reliability.

Abstract

RDF data is often treated as incomplete, following the Open-World Assumption. On the other hand, SPARQL, the standard query language over RDF, usually follows the Closed-World Assumption, assuming RDF data to be complete. This gives rise to a semantic gap between RDF and SPARQL. In this paper, we address how to close the semantic gap between RDF and SPARQL in terms of certain answers and possible answers using completeness statements.