title: PepeSearch: Semantic Data for the Masses.
abstract: With the emergence of the Web of Data, there is a need of tools for searching and exploring the growing amount of semantic data. Unfortunately, such tools are scarce and typically require knowledge of SPARQL/RDF. We propose here PepeSearch, a portable tool for searching semantic datasets devised for mainstream users. PepeSearch offers a multi-class search form automatically constructed from a SPARQL endpoint. We have tested PepeSearch with 15 participants searching a Linked Open Data version of the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises for non-trivial challenges. Retrieval performance was encouragingly high and usability ratings were also very positive, thus suggesting that PepeSearch is effective for searching semantic datasets by mainstream users. We also assessed its portability by configuring PepeSearch to query other SPARQL endpoints.
authors.affiliation: Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vega-Gorgojo
authors.affiliation: Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giese
authors.affiliation: Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Simen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heggestøyl
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Computer Science and Media Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjøvik, Norway.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soylu
authors.affiliation: Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Arild
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waaler
mesh_terms: D057225:Data Mining / Q000379:methods*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D020407:Internet; D012660:Semantics; D014584:User-Computer Interface