Knowledge Sharing on the Semantic Web Nicholas J. Kings 1 , Caroline Gale 2 and John Davies 1 1 Next Generation Web Research Group, BT Group, Adastral Park, Ipswich, UK {nick.kings, john.nj.davies}@bt.com 2 Chimera – Institute for SocioTechnical Research and Innovation, Essex University, UK- cgale@essex.ac.uk Abstract. This paper details the design, implementation and evaluation of an ontology-based knowledge sharing tool. The system, “Squidz”, automatically classifies browsed web pages against an ontology, and allows users to share comments made about those pages to members of a community. As the user browses web pages, recommendations of relevant documents which have al- ready been shared are produced, based upon both the user’s social network as well as the semantic content of the page currently in view. Key to the design of the system has been the requirement, evidenced by earlier studies, that sharing should be easily effected as a side-effect of browsing rather than comprising a separate and distracting task. Another feature of the system is the linkage of a formal ontology with user-provided tags of shared information, thus combining the proven popularity of folksonomy-based systems with the shared and formal domain model provided by an ontology. Keywords: Semantic Web, Knowledge Sharing, Tagging, Social Software, Communities of Practice. 1 Introduction In general, knowledge sharing tools combine the functions of searching for and dis- tributing information. As a user requires information to undertake a task, information relevant to that task can be located. Underpinning knowledge sharing tools is the premise that someone in the user’s wider community has already created or accessed relevant information (explicit knowledge transfer) or someone is able to provide help or advice (tacit knowledge transfer). Knowledge management can be defined as the “systematic application of actions to ensure that an organisation obtains greatest benefit from the information that is avail- able to it” [1]. Knowledge sharing software supports the activities of collating, cate- gorising and distributing information [2], which creates a group memory and im- proves team awareness [3, 4]. The application of a knowledge sharing tool has a direct impact on the commu- nity’s behaviour; any interactive digital technology has embedded implicit cultural as- sumptions. Raybourn et al. [5] suggest that there is no recipe or standard format for encouraging participation, nor should any one cultural perspective be forced on such a