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Temporal Modelling in Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graphs: Use Cases, Requirements, Evaluation, and Decision Support

Authors: Oleksandra Bruns, Jörg Waitelonis, Jeff Z. Pan, and Harald Sack

Published in: TGDK, Volume 4, Issue 1 (2026). Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge, Volume 4, Issue 1

Abstract

Our culture, history and world are in constant motion, continuously shaped by the flow of time, evolving narratives, and shifting relationships. Capturing this temporal complexity within cultural heritage (CH) knowledge graphs is essential for preserving the dynamic nature of human heritage. However, standard RDF predicates fail to effectively model the temporal aspects of cultural data, such as changing facts, evolving relationships, and temporal concepts. Over the past two decades, a variety of RDF-based approaches have been proposed to address this limitation, yet guidance is missing on which method best suits specific CH contexts. This paper presents a systematic evaluation of temporal RDF modelling approaches from a CH perspective. Based on an analysis of real-world CH use cases, core temporal requirements are identified that reflect both modelling expressivity and practical concerns. Six prominent approaches - RDF*, tRDF, Named Graphs, Singleton Property, N-ary Relations, and 4D Fluents - are assessed across these requirements. Our findings reveal that no single solution fits all scenarios, but suitable approaches can be selected based on project-specific priorities. To support practitioners, a decision-support tool is introduced to guide them in selecting the most suitable extension for their specific needs. This work provides practical guidance for CH modelling and contributes to the broader development of temporally aware Linked Data.

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Oleksandra Bruns, Jörg Waitelonis, Jeff Z. Pan, and Harald Sack. Temporal Modelling in Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graphs: Use Cases, Requirements, Evaluation, and Decision Support. In Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge (TGDK), Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 2:1-2:46, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@Article{bruns_et_al:TGDK.4.1.2,
  author =	{Bruns, Oleksandra and Waitelonis, J\"{o}rg and Pan, Jeff Z. and Sack, Harald},
  title =	{{Temporal Modelling in Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graphs: Use Cases, Requirements, Evaluation, and Decision Support}},
  journal =	{Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge},
  pages =	{2:1--2:46},
  ISSN =	{2942-7517},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{4},
  number =	{1},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/TGDK.4.1.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256871},
  doi =		{10.4230/TGDK.4.1.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Temporal Data Representation, RDF Extensions, Cultural Heritage, Knowledge Graphs}
}

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DOI: 10.4230/TGDK.1.1.4

Knowledge Graph Embeddings: Open Challenges and Opportunities

Authors: Russa Biswas, Lucie-Aimée Kaffee, Michael Cochez, Stefania Dumbrava, Theis E. Jendal, Matteo Lissandrini, Vanessa Lopez, Eneldo Loza Mencía, Heiko Paulheim, Harald Sack, Edlira Kalemi Vakaj, and Gerard de Melo

Published in: TGDK, Volume 1, Issue 1 (2023): Special Issue on Trends in Graph Data and Knowledge. Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge, Volume 1, Issue 1

Abstract

While Knowledge Graphs (KGs) have long been used as valuable sources of structured knowledge, in recent years, KG embeddings have become a popular way of deriving numeric vector representations from them, for instance, to support knowledge graph completion and similarity search. This study surveys advances as well as open challenges and opportunities in this area. For instance, the most prominent embedding models focus primarily on structural information. However, there has been notable progress in incorporating further aspects, such as semantics, multi-modal, temporal, and multilingual features. Most embedding techniques are assessed using human-curated benchmark datasets for the task of link prediction, neglecting other important real-world KG applications. Many approaches assume a static knowledge graph and are unable to account for dynamic changes. Additionally, KG embeddings may encode data biases and lack interpretability. Overall, this study provides an overview of promising research avenues to learn improved KG embeddings that can address a more diverse range of use cases.

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Russa Biswas, Lucie-Aimée Kaffee, Michael Cochez, Stefania Dumbrava, Theis E. Jendal, Matteo Lissandrini, Vanessa Lopez, Eneldo Loza Mencía, Heiko Paulheim, Harald Sack, Edlira Kalemi Vakaj, and Gerard de Melo. Knowledge Graph Embeddings: Open Challenges and Opportunities. In Special Issue on Trends in Graph Data and Knowledge. Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge (TGDK), Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 4:1-4:32, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@Article{biswas_et_al:TGDK.1.1.4,
  author =	{Biswas, Russa and Kaffee, Lucie-Aim\'{e}e and Cochez, Michael and Dumbrava, Stefania and Jendal, Theis E. and Lissandrini, Matteo and Lopez, Vanessa and Menc{\'\i}a, Eneldo Loza and Paulheim, Heiko and Sack, Harald and Vakaj, Edlira Kalemi and de Melo, Gerard},
  title =	{{Knowledge Graph Embeddings: Open Challenges and Opportunities}},
  journal =	{Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge},
  pages =	{4:1--4:32},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{1},
  number =	{1},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/TGDK.1.1.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-194783},
  doi =		{10.4230/TGDK.1.1.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Knowledge Graphs, KG embeddings, Link prediction, KG applications}
}

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Documents authored by Sack, Harald

Temporal Modelling in Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graphs: Use Cases, Requirements, Evaluation, and Decision Support

Abstract

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Knowledge Graph Embeddings: Open Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

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