--- a/primer/Primer.html Thu Mar 29 15:43:25 2012 +0100
+++ b/primer/Primer.html Thu Mar 29 15:54:12 2012 +0100
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
This primer document provides an accessible introduction to the PROV Data Model
([[PROV-DM]]) standard for representing provenance on the Web, and its representation
in the PROV Ontology ([[PROV-O]]). Provenance describes
- the origins of things, so PROV-DM data consists of assertions about the past.
+ the origins of things, so PROV-DM data consists of descriptions about the past.
</p>
<p>
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@
<p>
The <i>provenance</i> of digital objects represents their origins. The PROV-DM is a
- proposed standard to represent provenance records, which contain <i>assertions</i> about the entities
+ proposed standard to represent provenance records, which contain <i>descriptions</i> of the entities
and activities involved in producing and delivering or otherwise influencing a
given object. By knowing the provenance of an object, we can make determinations
about how to use it. Provenance records can be used for many purposes, such as
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@
</p>
<p>
The next section gives an introductory overview of PROV-DM using simple examples.
- The following section shows how the formal ontology PROV-O can be used to represent the PROV-DM assertions
+ The following section shows how the formal ontology PROV-O can be used to represent the PROV-DM descriptions
as RDF triples. The document also contains frequently asked questions, and an appendix giving example
snippets of the Provenance Notation (PROV-N).
For a detailed description of [[PROV-DM]] and [[PROV-O]], please refer to the respective documents.
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@
as a list of corrections.
</p>
<p>
- Assertions can be made in a provenance record to state that
+ Descriptions can be made in a provenance record to state that
particular activities used or generated particular entities.
</p>
</section>
@@ -325,9 +325,9 @@
organization, and we can express such chains of responsibility in the provenance.
</p>
<p>
- We can also assert that an entity is <i>attributed</i> to an agent to express
+ We can also describe that an entity is <i>attributed</i> to an agent to express
the agent's responsibility for that entity, possibly along with other agents.
- This assertion can be understood as a shorthand
+ This description can be understood as a shorthand
for saying that the agent was responsible for the activity which generated
the entity.
</p>
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@
(also called versions and other comparable terms) over time. Between revisions,
one or more attributes of the entity may change.
The result of each revision is a new entity,
- and PROV-DM allows one to relate those entities by making an assertion that
+ and PROV-DM allows one to relate those entities by making an description that
one is a revision of another.
</p>
</section>
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@
<h3>Plans</h3>
<p>
Activities may follow pre-defined procedures, such as recipes, tutorials, instructions, or workflows.
- PROV-DM refers to these, in general, as <i>plans</i>, and allows the assertion that a plan was followed, by agents,
+ PROV-DM refers to these, in general, as <i>plans</i>, and allows the description that a plan was followed, by agents,
in executing an activity.
</p>
</section>
@@ -389,9 +389,9 @@
<h3>Time</h3>
<p>
Time is critical information in many provenance records.
- PROV-DM allows the timing of significant events to be asserted, including
+ PROV-DM allows the timing of significant events to be described, including
when an entity was generated or used, or when an activity started
- and finished. For example, the model can be used to assert facts such as when a new
+ and finished. For example, the model can be used to describe facts such as when a new
version of a document was created (generation time), when a document was
edited (start and end of the editing activity).
</p>
@@ -402,13 +402,13 @@
<p>
Entities are defined in a flexible way in PROV-DM, allowing for different
perspectives to be taken as appropriate for the application. For example,
- some PROV-DM assertions may refer to a document D, other assertions may be
+ some PROV-DM descriptions may refer to a document D, other descriptions may be
more specifically about the second version of D, while another set may
concern the copy of D stored on a particular hard disk. All three are
different entities referred to with different identifiers, but are also perspectives
or abstractions on the same thing. Because of
this, the entities are said to be <i>alternates</i> of each other, and
- asserted as such. Being aware that two entities are alternates allows those
+ described as such. Being aware that two entities are alternates allows those
consuming the PROV-DM data to know that understanding the provenance of one entity is salient
to understanding the provenance of the other.
</p>
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@
of document D and the copy of D on the hard disk are specializations of document D in
general. That is, D's period of existence will contain the periods in which the
second version existed, and where a copy of D was on the hard disk. It is helpful
- to assert specialization in provenance data, because it indicates that everything
+ to describe specialization in provenance data, because it indicates that everything
which was true of one entity (the more specialized) was at some point true of
the other (the more general).
</p>
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@
</p>
<p>
We include samples of how the formal ontology PROV-O
- can be used to represent the PROV-DM assertions as RDF triples.
+ can be used to represent the PROV-DM descriptions as RDF triples.
These are shown using the Turtle notation. In
the latter depictions, the namespace prefix <b>prov</b> denotes
terms from the Prov ontology, while <b>ex</b> denotes terms specific to the example.
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@
A blogger, Betty, looking at the article, spots what she thinks to be an error in the chart.
Betty retrieves the provenance record of the article, how it was created.
</p>
- <p>Betty would find the following assertions about entities in the provenance record:</p>
+ <p>Betty would find the following descriptions about entities in the provenance record:</p>
<pre class="turtle example">
ex:article1 a prov:Entity ; dcterms:title "Crime rises in cities" .
ex:dataset1 a prov:Entity .
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@
ex:chart1 a prov:Entity .
</pre>
<p>
- These statements, in order, assert that there was an article (<code>ex:article1</code>),
+ These statements, in order, describe that there was an article (<code>ex:article1</code>),
an original data set (<code>ex:dataSet1</code>),
a list of regions (<code>ex:regionList1</code>),
data aggregated by region (<code>ex:composition1</code>),
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@
<h3>Activities</h3>
<p>
- Further, the provenance record asserts that there was
+ Further, the provenance record describes that there was
an activity (<code>ex:compiled</code>) denoting the compilation of the
chart from the data set.
</p>
@@ -504,12 +504,12 @@
<h3>Use and Generation</h3>
<p>
- Finally, the provenance record asserts the key relations among the above
+ Finally, the provenance record describes the key relations among the above
entities and activities, i.e. the use of an entity by an activity,
or the generation of an entity by an activity.
</p>
<p>
- For example, the assertions below state that the composition activity
+ For example, the descriptions below state that the composition activity
(<code>ex:compose</code>) used the original data set, that it used the list of
regions, and that the composed data was generated by this activity.
</p>
@@ -595,8 +595,8 @@
In addition to the simple facts that the composition activity used, generated or
was controlled by entities/agents as described in the sections above, the
provenance record contains more details of <i>how</i> these entities and agents
- were involved, i.e. the roles they played. For example, the assertions below state
- Examples in the sections above show assertions of the simple facts that the
+ were involved, i.e. the roles they played. For example, the descriptions below state
+ Examples in the sections above show descriptions of the simple facts that the
composition activity used, generated and was controlled by entities/agents.
For example, the usage of the data set by the compose activity is expressed
as follows.
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@
The
provenance record can contain more details of <i>how</i> these entities and agents
were involved in the activity. One example is the roles the entities played.
- For example, the assertions below state
+ For example, the descriptions below state
that the composition activity (<code>ex:compose</code>) included the usage
of the government data set (<code>ex:dataSet1</code>) in the role of the data
to be composed (<code>ex:dataToCompose</code>).
@@ -628,7 +628,7 @@
prov:hadRole ex:regionsToAggregateBy ] .
</pre>
<p>
- Similarly, the provenance includes assertions that the same activity was
+ Similarly, the provenance includes descriptions that the same activity was
controlled in a particular way (<code>ex:analyst</code>) by Derek, and that
the entity <code>ex:composition1</code> took the role of the composed
data in what the activity generated.
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@
Derek notices that there is a new dataset available and creates a new chart based on the revised data,
using the same compilation activity as before. Betty checks the article again at a
later point, and wants to know if it is based on the old or new GovData.
- She sees a new assertion stating that the new chart is derived from the new dataset.
+ She sees a new description stating that the new chart is derived from the new dataset.
</p>
<pre class="example turtle">
ex:chart2 prov:wasDerivedFrom ex:dataSet2 .
@@ -746,8 +746,8 @@
used(ex:aggregated, ex:regionList1, [ prov:role = "regionsToAggregteBy"]).
</pre>
<p>
- In the first assertion above, note that this adds a "role" attribute to the first 'used' assertion of Ex. 3.
- Similarly in the second assertion, we have added a "role" attribute to the second 'used' assertion of Ex. 3.
+ In the first description above, note that this adds a "role" attribute to the first 'used' description of Ex. 3.
+ Similarly in the second description, we have added a "role" attribute to the second 'used' description of Ex. 3.
</p>
</section>