The SEMIC style guide for semantic engineers

Context 

This document defines the style guide to be applied to the SEMIC’s semantic data specifications, notably to the eGovernment Core Vocabularies and Application Profiles. It provides rules on naming conventions, syntax, artefact management and organisation. It is meant to be complemented with technical artefacts and implementations that enable automatic conformance checking and transformation of conceptual models into formal semantic representations.

The content of these guides is part of the action to promote semantic interoperability amongst the EU Member States, with the objective of fostering the use of standards by, for example, offering guidelines and expert advice on semantic interoperability for public administrations.

Who is it for? 

This style guide is intended primarily for semantic engineers, data architects and knowledge modelling specialists who are acting as editors or reusers of Core Vocabularies and Application Profiles.

This style guide may constitute a good source of information and explanations for the European Commission’s officers, collaborating consultants, and stakeholders involved in interinstitutional standardisation.

How to read the Style guide?

This document is organised in two parts. The first part provides a brief context description and scope and offers an architectural overview. It introduces important terminological clarifications, the benefits of adopting the separation of concerns principle, and explanations of how it is played out in the SEMIC context.

The second part of the document provides a series of guidelines, conventions and assumption specifications. These guidelines are organised according to the aspects they cover. A guideline is a stand-alone description containing an indicative statement and a detailed description providing the rationale, benefits and limitations, implications and practical requirements, and eventually examples.

Users who may choose to bypass introductory details may decide to proceed with reading the general guidelines and the ones on the conceptual model first.

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