This document is written for readers who want a first impression of the capabilities of OWL. It provides an introduction to OWL by informally describing the features of each of the sublanguages of OWL.
OWL lets you say much more about your data model, it shows you how to work efficiently with database queries and automatic reasoners, and it provides useful annotations for bringing your data models into the real world.
The OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, informally OWL 2, is an ontology language for the Semantic Web with formally defined meaning. OWL 2 ontologies provide classes, properties, individuals, and data values and are stored as Semantic Web documents. OWL 2 ontologies can be used along with information written in RDF, and OWL 2 ontologies themselves are primarily exchanged as RDF documents.
K. Lüttich, T. Mossakowski, and B. Krieg-Brückner. Recent Trends in Algebraic Development Techniques, 17th International Workshop (WADT 2004), volume 3423 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, page 106-125. Springer; Berlin; http://www.springer.de, (2005)