AcronymFinder does have an XML/SOAP interface

In a prior post mentioning AcronymFinder I said that it was not a part of the Semantic Web and was simply a traditional Web site, but I see now on their Licencing page that they do offer an option for the "Acronym Finder web service" that offers the ability to "query the Acronym Finder database via a web service (XML/SOAP)." Web Services (WS) are in the gray area between the traditional Web and the Semantic Web. A true Semantic Web solution would be based on RDF, but anything that uses XML or SOAP or any of the Web Services technologies can be said to be using "Semantic Web Technologies" since these technologies are indeed relevant to the Semantic Web.

I will stick with the characterization that RDF is a hard-core requirement for being a true first-class component of the Semantic Web, but I will also acknowledge the utility of infrastructure and applications that use a subset of Semantic Web Technologies that at least include XML but may not include RDF.

To be truly "hip" in today's Semantic Web environment, a Web Service should be a "SPARQL endpoint" which is a Web Services endpoint which supports the SPARQL Query Language for RDF and uses the SPARQL Protocol for RDF (SPROT).

-- Jack Krupansky