Module 1

RDF Basics

Understand the triple model — the atom of all linked data.

What is RDF?

RDF (Resource Description Framework) is a standard way to describe things on the web. Every statement is a triple — Subject → Predicate → Object.

Subject

the thing being described

▶

Predicate the relationship

Object

a value or another thing

IRIs (Internationalized Resource Identifiers) look like URLs: <https://dbpedia.org/resource/Canberra>. Any IRI can be a subject or object. Predicates must always be IRIs.

Objects can also be literals: a string "Canberra", a number, or a language-tagged string "Canberra"@en.

Turtle — Human-Friendly Notation

Turtle is the most readable way to write RDF. Prefixes let you abbreviate long IRIs. Chain predicates with ; and objects with ,.

example.ttl

# Prefix declarations
@prefix ex:     <https://example.org/> .
@prefix schema: <https://schema.org/> .
@prefix rdfs:   <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .

ex:Canberra
    rdfs:label    "Canberra"@en ;
    schema:partOf ex:Australia .

Key Turtle Syntax Rules

Every statement ends with a . (full stop)
Use ; to add another predicate to the same subject
Use , to add another object for the same predicate
IRIs are wrapped in < > or use a declared prefix
String literals are in double quotes. Add @en for language tags
# starts a comment

✏️ Exercise 1 — Build a Triple

Fill in subject, predicate, and object for a bushfire risk concept, then click Generate Turtle.

Generated Turtle

🔍 Exercise 2 — Identify the Parts

Click each highlighted token to learn what it is.

triple-quiz.ttl

@prefix risk: <https://example.org/risk/> .
@prefix skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> .

risk:High
    skos:prefLabel    "High Risk"@en .

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