--- title: Introductory Resources - Graph Structures, Models and Databases description: Learn about graph database topics ranging from ontologies to graph model types. In addition to introductory material you can view how-to guides and videos. image: https://graph.build/hubfs/graph-build-logo-primary-2.svg --- [Skip to content](https://graph.build/resources#main) [![graph.build](https://graph.build/hubfs/raw_assets/public/graphbuild-theme/images/logo-secondary-reverse.svg)](https://graph.build/) Menu - Platform - AI context [Context for AI](https://graph.build/ai-context) [Semantic layer](https://graph.build/semantic-layer) [GraphRAG](https://graph.build/graphrag) [MCP & agent access](https://graph.build/mcp) [Ontologies explained](https://graph.build/resources/ontology) - Resources [Blog](https://graph.build/blog) [Graph fundamentals](https://graph.build/resources) [Documentation](https://graph.build/documentation) - Company [About us](https://graph.build/about) [Consulting](https://graph.build/consulting-services) [Contact](https://graph.build/contact) [Book a demo](https://graph.build/enquire/book-a-demo) Model [Studio](https://graph.build/graph-build-studio) [Visual graph modelling](https://graph.build/graph-modelling-tool) [Ontologies & vocabularies](https://graph.build/platform-architecture#ontology) Transform [Transformers](https://graph.build/graph-build-transformers) [Knowledge graph ETL](https://graph.build/knowledge-graph-etl) [Change data capture](https://graph.build/graph-build-transformers#cdc) Write [Writers](https://graph.build/graph-build-writer) [Database compatibility](https://graph.build/graph-databases) [Deployment](https://graph.build/platform-architecture#deployment) You are here [The graph engineering lifecycle](https://graph.build/knowledge-graph-building) Design, configure, engineer, iterate and automate graph model production: the whole lifecycle, without writing bespoke ingest code for each project. Model [Studio](https://graph.build/graph-build-studio) [Visual graph modelling](https://graph.build/graph-modelling-tool) [Ontologies & vocabularies](https://graph.build/platform-architecture#ontology) Transform [Transformers](https://graph.build/graph-build-transformers) [Knowledge graph ETL](https://graph.build/knowledge-graph-etl) [Change data capture](https://graph.build/graph-build-transformers#cdc) Write [Writers](https://graph.build/graph-build-writer) [Database compatibility](https://graph.build/graph-databases) [Deployment](https://graph.build/platform-architecture#deployment) AI context [Context for AI](https://graph.build/ai-context) [Semantic layer](https://graph.build/semantic-layer) [GraphRAG](https://graph.build/graphrag) [MCP & agent access](https://graph.build/mcp) [Ontologies explained](https://graph.build/resources/ontology) Resources [Blog](https://graph.build/blog) [Graph fundamentals](https://graph.build/resources) [Documentation](https://graph.build/documentation) Company [About us](https://graph.build/about) [Consulting](https://graph.build/consulting-services) [Contact](https://graph.build/contact) [Book a demo](https://graph.build/enquire/book-a-demo) Graph fundamentals # Five guides that assume you have never built a graph What a graph model is, what an ontology adds to one, how property graphs and semantic graphs differ, and which query language belongs to which. No product in any of them. They are here because the decisions further on are hard to make without this vocabulary. [Start with graph models](https://graph.build/resources/graph-models) [Read the blog](https://graph.build/blog) The set ## Read in any order, though the first one carries the vocabulary Between fifteen minutes and half an hour each. They are introductions rather than references, so they stop before the edge cases. ### [Graph models Graph structures, graph models, and how both differ from the relational model you already have. Covers the model types, whether you can mix them, and how to decide what data belongs in a graph at all. read graph models](https://graph.build/resources/graph-models) ### [Ontologies explained What an ontology is, how it differs from a schema, which standard ones are worth reusing before you write your own, and what changes about a graph once it has one. read ontologies](https://graph.build/resources/ontology) ### [Property graphs Nodes, edges and properties. Why labelled property graphs became the popular default, and what they give up in exchange for that flexibility. read property graphs](https://graph.build/resources/property-graphs) ### [Semantic graphs and RDF Triples, RDF and the semantic web stack. Best read straight after the property graph guide, because the difference between the two is the decision most projects reach first. read semantic graphs](https://graph.build/resources/semantic-graphs) ### [Graph query languages What a graph query language is, how Cypher, SPARQL and Gremlin differ in shape rather than in syntax, and where GQL standardisation leaves all three. read query languages](https://graph.build/resources/graph-query-languages) ### [Choosing a graph database Not part of this set, but the page most people want next. Fifteen databases, which query languages each speaks, and what that means for a model you have already built. go to graph databases](https://graph.build/graph-databases) Also worth your time ## Three things that are not guides The old hub mixed these in with the guides above. They are a different kind of reading and they are easier to find when they are not. ### [The blog Release notes, modelling arguments and walk-throughs, including how to build a knowledge graph without coding and how to convert several joined tables into RDF. go to the blog](https://graph.build/blog) ### [The KGC23 talk Twenty minutes from the Knowledge Graph Conference in New York. Building a graph end to end on stage, from source data to a loaded database. watch graph.build.done](https://graph.build/knowledge/kgc23-talk) ### [The lifecycle Once the vocabulary is in place, this is the shape of the work: the eight steps of building a knowledge graph and which of them can be automated. go to how to build a knowledge graph](https://graph.build/knowledge-graph-building) Next ## When the vocabulary stops being the hard part The guides are deliberately product-free. If you have read enough of them to know what you want to build, the fastest next step is seeing it built on your own domain. [Book a demo](https://graph.build/enquire/book-a-demo) [See Studio](https://graph.build/graph-build-studio) - 45 minutes, your data, no installation - You keep whatever we model - No obligation to buy anything Platform [Studio](https://graph.build/graph-build-studio) [Transformers](https://graph.build/graph-build-transformers) [Writers](https://graph.build/graph-build-writer) [Database compatibility](https://graph.build/graph-databases) [Platform architecture](https://graph.build/platform-architecture) AI context [Context for AI](https://graph.build/ai-context) [Semantic layer](https://graph.build/semantic-layer) [GraphRAG](https://graph.build/graphrag) [MCP & agent access](https://graph.build/mcp) [Ontologies explained](https://graph.build/resources/ontology) Resources [Blog](https://graph.build/blog) [Graph fundamentals](https://graph.build/resources) [Choosing a graph database](https://graph.build/graph-databases) [How to build a knowledge graph](https://graph.build/knowledge-graph-building) [Documentation](https://graph.build/documentation) Company [About us](https://graph.build/about) [Consulting](https://graph.build/consulting-services) [Contact](https://graph.build/contact) Legal [Privacy policy](https://graph.build/privacy-policy) Get in touch No newsletter. If you want to talk about a model, or want to be kept posted, the contact form is the way in. [Contact us](https://graph.build/contact) - © 2026 Graph.Build · A trading name of Data Lens Labs Ltd, registered in England & Wales, company number 12483318 [![graph.build](https://graph.build/hubfs/raw_assets/public/graphbuild-theme/images/logo-secondary-reverse.svg)](https://graph.build/) ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "WebPage", "about" : [ { "@type" : "Action", "name" : "Learn about a range of graph model topics" } ], "description" : "Learn about graph database topics ranging from ontologies to graph model types. In addition to introductory material you can view how-to guides and videos.", "name" : "Graph Database Resources", "url" : "https://graph.build/resources" } ```