Recommendation

Date: Feb. 22, 1999
Link: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-rdf-syntax-19990222/
Source Author or Organization: W3C

The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a foundation for processing metadata that provides interoperability between applications that exchange machine-understandable information on the Web.

RDF emphasizes facilities to enable automated processing of Web resources that can be used in a variety of application areas. Examples include: resource discovery (to provide better search engine capabilities), cataloging (to describe the content and content relationships available at a particular Web site, page, or digital library) and by intelligent software agents (to facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange, in content rating).

RDF can also be used to describe collections of pages that represent a single logical "document", to describe intellectual property rights and for expressing the privacy preferences of a user as well as the privacy policies of a Web site. RDF with digital signatures will be key to building the "Web of Trust" for electronic commerce, collaboration, and other applications.