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 multiclass 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 Pepe-Search is effective for searching semantic datasets by mainstream users. We also assessed its portability by configuring PepeSearch to query other SPARQL endpoints.