SKOS Core Vocabulary

IRI:
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Authors:
Alistair Miles
Sean Bechhofer
Contributors:
Dave Beckett
Nikki Rogers
Participants in W3C's Semantic Web Deployment Working Group.
Other visualisation:
Ontology source

Table of Content

  1. Introduction
  2. Classes
  3. Object Properties
  4. Data Properties
  5. Named Individuals
  6. Annotation Properties
  7. Namespace Declarations

Introduction

An RDF vocabulary for describing the basic structure and content of concept schemes such as thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading lists, taxonomies, 'folksonomies', other types of controlled vocabulary, and also concept schemes embedded in glossaries and terminologies.

Classes

Collectionc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#Collection

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Labelled collections can be used with collectable semantic relation properties e.g. skos:narrower, where you would like a set of concepts to be displayed under a 'node label' in the hierarchy.
has sub-classes
Ordered Collectionc
is in domain of
memberop
is disjoint with
Conceptc, Concept Schemec
is also defined as
named individual

Conceptc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#Concept

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
is in domain of
mapping relationop, semantic relationop, top concept in schemeop
is in range of
has top conceptop, mapping relationop, semantic relationop
is disjoint with
Collectionc, Concept Schemec
is also defined as
named individual

Concept Schemec back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#ConceptScheme

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
A concept scheme may be defined to include concepts from different sources.
is in domain of
has top conceptop
is in range of
in schemeop, top concept in schemeop
is disjoint with
Collectionc, Conceptc
is also defined as
named individual

Ordered Collectionc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#OrderedCollection

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Ordered collections can be used with collectable semantic relation properties, where you would like a set of concepts to be displayed in a specific order, and optionally under a 'node label'.
has super-classes
Collectionc
is in domain of
member listop
is also defined as
named individual

Object Properties

broader matchop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#broadMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
has broaderop
mapping relationop
is inverse of
narrower matchop
is also defined as
named individual

broader transitiveop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#broaderTransitive

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:broaderTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application.

has characteristics: transitive

has super-properties
semantic relationop
has sub-properties
has broaderop
is inverse of
narrower transitiveop
is also defined as
named individual

change noteop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#changeNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
noteop
is also defined as
named individual

definitionop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#definition

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
noteop
is also defined as
annotation property, named individual

editorial noteop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#editorialNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
noteop
is also defined as
named individual

exact matchop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#closeMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos

has characteristics: symmetric

has super-properties
mapping relationop
has sub-properties
exact matchop
is also defined as
named individual

exact matchop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#exactMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
skos:exactMatch is disjoint with each of the properties skos:broadMatch and skos:relatedMatch.

has characteristics: symmetric, transitive

has super-properties
exact matchop
is also defined as
named individual

exampleop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#example

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
noteop
is also defined as
named individual

has broaderop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#broader

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Broader concepts are typically rendered as parents in a concept hierarchy (tree).
has super-properties
broader transitiveop
has sub-properties
broader matchop
is inverse of
has narrowerop
is also defined as
named individual

has narrowerop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#narrower

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources.
has super-properties
narrower transitiveop
has sub-properties
narrower matchop
is inverse of
has broaderop
is also defined as
named individual

has top conceptop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#hasTopConcept

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has domain
Concept Schemec
has range
Conceptc
is inverse of
top concept in schemeop
is also defined as
named individual

history noteop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#historyNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
noteop
is also defined as
named individual

in schemeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#inScheme

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
A concept may be a member of more than one concept scheme.
has sub-properties
top concept in schemeop
has range
Concept Schemec
is also defined as
named individual

mapping relationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#mappingRelation

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
These concept mapping relations mirror semantic relations, and the data model defined below is similar (with the exception of skos:exactMatch) to the data model defined for semantic relations. A distinct vocabulary is provided for concept mapping relations, to provide a convenient way to differentiate links within a concept scheme from links between concept schemes. However, this pattern of usage is not a formal requirement of the SKOS data model, and relies on informal definitions of best practice.
has sub-properties
broader matchop, exact matchop, narrower matchop, related matchop
has domain
Conceptc
has range
Conceptc
is also defined as
named individual

memberop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#member

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has domain
Collectionc
is also defined as
named individual

member listop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#memberList

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
For any resource, every item in the list given as the value of the skos:memberList property is also a value of the skos:member property.

has characteristics: functional

has domain
Ordered Collectionc
has range
listc
is also defined as
named individual

narrower matchop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#narrowMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
mapping relationop
has narrowerop
is inverse of
broader matchop
is also defined as
named individual

narrower transitiveop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#narrowerTransitive

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application.

has characteristics: transitive

has super-properties
semantic relationop
has sub-properties
has narrowerop
is inverse of
broader transitiveop
is also defined as
named individual

noteop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#note

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
This property may be used directly, or as a super-property for more specific note types.
has sub-properties
change noteop, definitionop, editorial noteop, exampleop, history noteop, scope noteop
is also defined as
named individual

related matchop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#relatedMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos

has characteristics: symmetric

has super-properties
mapping relationop
related toop
is also defined as
named individual

related toop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#related

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
skos:related is disjoint with skos:broaderTransitive

has characteristics: symmetric

has super-properties
semantic relationop
has sub-properties
related matchop
is also defined as
named individual

scope noteop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#scopeNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
noteop
is also defined as
named individual

semantic relationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#semanticRelation

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
This property should not be used directly, but as a super-property for all properties denoting a relationship of meaning between concepts.
has sub-properties
broader transitiveop, narrower transitiveop, related toop
has domain
Conceptc
has range
Conceptc
is also defined as
named individual

top concept in schemeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#topConceptOf

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has super-properties
in schemeop
has domain
Conceptc
has range
Concept Schemec
is inverse of
has top conceptop
is also defined as
named individual

Data Properties

alternative labeldp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#altLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel).
is also defined as
annotation property, named individual

hidden labeldp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#hiddenLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
The range of skos:hiddenLabel is the class of RDF plain literals.
is also defined as
annotation property, named individual

notationdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#notation

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:notation is used with a typed literal in the object position of the triple.
is also defined as
named individual

preferred labeldp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#prefLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
No two concepts in the same concept scheme may have the same value for skos:prefLabel in a given language.
is also defined as
annotation property, named individual

Named Individuals

alternative labelni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#altLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel).
has facts
definitionop "An alternative lexical label for a resource."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
annotation property, data property

broader matchni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#broadMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "skos:broadMatch is used to state a hierarchical mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

broader transitiveni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#broaderTransitive

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:broaderTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application.
has facts
definitionop "skos:broaderTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader."
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

change noteni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#changeNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "A note about a modification to a concept."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

Collectionni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#Collection

is disjoint with
Concept, Concept Scheme
has facts
change noteop ""
is also defined as
class

Conceptni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#Concept

is disjoint with
Collection, Concept Scheme
has facts
change noteop ""
is also defined as
class

Concept Schemeni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#ConceptScheme

is disjoint with
Collection, Concept
has facts
change noteop ""
is also defined as
class

definitionni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#definition

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
belongs to
annotation property
has facts
definitionop "A statement or formal explanation of the meaning of a concept."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
annotation property, object property

editorial noteni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#editorialNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "A note for an editor, translator or maintainer of the vocabulary."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

exact matchni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#closeMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "skos:closeMatch is used to link two concepts that are sufficiently similar that they can be used interchangeably in some information retrieval applications. In order to avoid the possibility of "compound errors" when combining mappings across more than two concept schemes, skos:closeMatch is not declared to be a transitive property."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

exact matchni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#exactMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
skos:exactMatch is disjoint with each of the properties skos:broadMatch and skos:relatedMatch.
has facts
definitionop "skos:exactMatch is used to link two concepts, indicating a high degree of confidence that the concepts can be used interchangeably across a wide range of information retrieval applications. skos:exactMatch is a transitive property, and is a sub-property of skos:closeMatch."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

exampleni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#example

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "An example of the use of a concept."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

has broaderni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#broader

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Broader concepts are typically rendered as parents in a concept hierarchy (tree).
has facts
definitionop "A concept that is more general in meaning."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

has narrowerni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#narrower

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources.
has facts
definitionop "A concept that is more specific in meaning."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

has top conceptni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#hasTopConcept

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "A top level concept in the concept scheme."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

hidden labelni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#hiddenLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
The range of skos:hiddenLabel is the class of RDF plain literals.
has facts
definitionop "A lexical label for a resource that should be hidden when generating visual displays of the resource, but should still be accessible to free text search operations."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
annotation property, data property

history noteni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#historyNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "A note about the past state/use/meaning of a concept."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

in schemeni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#inScheme

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
A concept may be a member of more than one concept scheme.
has facts
definitionop "A concept scheme in which the concept is included."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

mapping relationni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#mappingRelation

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
These concept mapping relations mirror semantic relations, and the data model defined below is similar (with the exception of skos:exactMatch) to the data model defined for semantic relations. A distinct vocabulary is provided for concept mapping relations, to provide a convenient way to differentiate links within a concept scheme from links between concept schemes. However, this pattern of usage is not a formal requirement of the SKOS data model, and relies on informal definitions of best practice.
has facts
definitionop "Definition"@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

memberni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#member

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "A member of a collection."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

member listni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#memberList

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
For any resource, every item in the list given as the value of the skos:memberList property is also a value of the skos:member property.
has facts
definitionop "An RDF list containing the members of an ordered collection."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

narrower matchni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#narrowMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "skos:narrowMatch is used to state a hierarchical mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

narrower transitiveni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#narrowerTransitive

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application.
has facts
definitionop "skos:narrowerTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader. By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not intended to be used in assertions, but provides a mechanism whereby the transitive closure of skos:narrower can be queried."
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

notationni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#notation

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
By convention, skos:notation is used with a typed literal in the object position of the triple.
has facts
definitionop "A notation, also known as classification code, is a string of characters such as "T58.5" or "303.4833" used to uniquely identify a concept within the scope of a given concept scheme."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
data property

noteni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#note

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
This property may be used directly, or as a super-property for more specific note types.
has facts
definitionop "A general note, for any purpose."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

Ordered Collectionni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#OrderedCollection

has facts
change noteop ""
is also defined as
class

preferred labelni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#prefLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
No two concepts in the same concept scheme may have the same value for skos:prefLabel in a given language.
has facts
definitionop "The preferred lexical label for a resource, in a given language."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
annotation property, data property

related matchni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#relatedMatch

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "skos:relatedMatch is used to state an associative mapping link between two conceptual resources in different concept schemes."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

related toni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#related

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
skos:related is disjoint with skos:broaderTransitive
has facts
definitionop "A concept with which there is an associative semantic relationship."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

scope noteni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#scopeNote

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "A note that helps to clarify the meaning of a concept."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

semantic relationni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#semanticRelation

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
This property should not be used directly, but as a super-property for all properties denoting a relationship of meaning between concepts.
has facts
definitionop "A concept related by meaning."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

top concept in schemeni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#topConceptOf

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
has facts
definitionop "Relates a concept to the concept scheme that it is a top level concept of."@en
change noteop ""
is also defined as
object property

Annotation Properties

alternative labelap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#altLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel).
has super-properties
label
is also defined as
data property, named individual

definitionap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#definition

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
is also defined as
object property, named individual

hidden labelap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#hiddenLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
The range of skos:hiddenLabel is the class of RDF plain literals.
has super-properties
label
is also defined as
data property, named individual

issuedap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/issued

preferred labelap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#prefLabel

is defined by
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos
No two concepts in the same concept scheme may have the same value for skos:prefLabel in a given language.
has super-properties
label
is also defined as
data property, named individual

Namespace Declarations back to ToC

default namespace
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#
05
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/
dc
http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/
owl
http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#
rdf
http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
rdfs
http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#
skos2
http://www.w3.org/2008/05/skos#
terms
http://purl.org/dc/terms/
xsd
http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#

This HTML document was obtained by processing the OWL ontology source code through LODE, Live OWL Documentation Environment, developed by Silvio Peroni.