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Research
My main interest lies in (building) frameworks for information integration.
My homepage
My publications
Typological Database System
I'm working as system architect and software developer on the Typological Database System (TDS) project. In this project we developed a common web interface for several typological databases. As these databases may provide different viewpoints on the same linguistic concept there exists the need for the encoding of semantic knowledge about them. This brings the project in the realm of the semantic web effort. We try to use cutting edge technology, like the OWL language for ontologies, to make the TDS interface as semantically rich as possible. The web interface is currently operational, and the project went into the maintenance phase.
TDS homepage
The IPA Console
As a side product of the TDS the IPA Console was developed. This Java WebStart application allows to copy Unicode IPA symbols to the systems clipboard using an interface that closely resembles the familiar IPA chart.
IPA Console homepage
ISOcat: a Data Category Registry
At the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics I'm developing ISOcat, which is the reference implementation for the ISO 12620:2009 standard. This standard describes the data model of and the procedures around a Data Category Registry. In this registry data category specifications are stored and shared. External references to these data categories can be embedded in resources, thus indicating shared semantics and fostering semantic interoperability of these resources.
ISOcat homepage