A Distributed Entity Directory

We see the local content from peers organized in directories (i.e., on local ordered lists) containing local representations of entities from the real world (e.g., persons, locations, events). Different local representations can give different “versions” of the same real world entity and use different names to refer to it (e.g., Fausto Giunchiglia, Giunchiglia F., Prof. Giunchiglia). Although the names used in these directories connect data that could complement each other, there are no links that allow peers to share and search across them. We propose a Distributed Directory of Entities that makes explicit these connecting links and allows peers to: (i) maintain their data locally and (ii) find the different versions of a real world entity based on any name used in the network. The model we present exploits the name as the central (multi-value) attribute of entities and aims to convince readers of the importance of such names in a peer-to-peer scenario.