A multi-agent approach for dynamic ontology loading to support semantic Web applications

The semantic Web refers to a range of standards, modeling languages and tool development initiatives aimed at annotating Web pages with well-defined metadata, so that the semantics associated with Web contexts can be effectively interpreted. The applications that deliver these new online solutions are all based on ontologies. An ontology can be described as a consensual, shared and formal description of key concepts in a given domain (D. Fensel et al., 2000). The ultimate aim is to be able to handle user requests at semantic levels. We propose a new approach to support concept based online search applications. An easy to use Web page development tool is deployed, providing a convenient mechanism to create semantically marked up Web pages. Search and coordination activities are carried out by intelligent agents designed for such environments. An application example using accommodation services in the Australian tourism industry has been provided to give our research an applied and pragmatic perspective.