199 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 17 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-308-9.ch017 INTRODUCTION The promise of the Semantic Web needs to be balanced with patience, rules, freedom, structure, innovation, standards, creativity, and a sense of boldness. As there have been mini gains in the information industry, we are beginning to see gains in reference publishing with regard to the Semantic Web. This is an exploration of how semantic technology will not only enhance ref- erence publishing but also put it at the forefront due to significant gains that will be achieved by researchers. Since the publishing of Tim Berners-Lee’s article on the Semantic Web in Scientific Ameri- can in May 2001 (Berners-Lee, 2001, p. 3), the World Wide Web community has been holding its collective breath waiting for the big announce- ment—the announcement that would change the way that we conduct business, interact with one other, research for cures, and more importantly, how we put context into our search content. Darrell Gunter Gunter Media Group, USA The Semantic Web: History, Applications and Future Possibilities ABSTRACT The Semantic Web provides a common structure that allows data to be shared and reused across a va- riety of applications. The history and terminology of the Semantic Web, examples of STM achievements with semantics, an examination of semantic technology companies, and future possibilities for reference publishers are discussed and examined in this chapter. Cooperation between publishers will be impera- tive if we are to fully beneft from the advantages of the semantic technology.