A web of linked RDF data has not emerged because of (a) a lack of powerful generic RDF browsers that can traverse an open web of RDF resources, and (b) the lack of standards
specifying how links should be made in RDF and under what conditions they should be followed. The tabulator project is an attempt to demonstrate and utilize the power of
linked RDF data with a user-friendly semantic web browser that is able to recognize and follow RDF links to other RDF resources based on the user's exploration and analysis.
The tabulator operates in two interacting modes. In exploration mode, the user can explore an RDF graph in a tree view (the outliner), expanding nodes to get more information
about them. As the user does this, the tabulator implicitly follows links that may contain more RDF data about the relevant nodes. The user can then generate a query in the
outliner. Tabulator then performs this query, following links as it attempts to match the query pattern to the RDF graph. The results of a query can be displayed in a number
of modular (domain-specific) views, including a table, a map, and a calendar. The tabulator is designed both for new users, to provoke interest in the semantic web and give
them a means to access and interact with the entire web of RDF data, and for the developer of RDF content, to provide incentive for them to post their data in RDF, to promote
RDF and RDF linking standards, and to let them see how their data interacts with the rest of the semantic web.