ITTALKS: An Application of Agents in the Semantic Web

Effective use of the vast quantity of information now available on the web will require the use of �Semantic Web� markup languages such as the DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML). Such languages will enable the automated gathering and processing of much information that is currently available but insufficiently utilized. Effectively, such languages will facilitate the integration of multi-agent systems with the existing information infrastructure. As part of our exploration of SemanticWeb technology, and DAML in particular, we have constructed ITTALKS, a web-based system for automatic and intelligent notifi- cation of information technology talks. In this paper, we describe the ITTALKS system, and discuss the numerous ways in which the use of Semantic Web concepts and DAML extend its ability to provide an intelligent online service to both the human community and the agents assisting them.