Knowledge = Information + Context

Folie 1

Knowledge = Information in Context:
on the Importance of Semantic Contextualisation in Europeana

Prof. Dr. Stefan GradmannHumboldt-Universitt zu Berlin / School of Library and Information [email protected]

Overview

Europeana: To Which End?

Knowledge: a Challenging Concept

DIKW / DIKT in Practice: Take Five

Europeana in the DIKT Continuum

Semantic Contextualisation in Europeana

From 'Connecting' to 'Thinking'

Europeana: to Which End?
A first approximation

Europeana.eu is about ideas and inspiration. It links you to 6 million digital items. (http://www.europeana.eu/portal/aboutus.html)

Evokes conceptualisation, reasoning,
semantics

but on its own remains too vague and imprecise to capture the functionalpotential of an endeavour that has
too often been characterised in termsof sheer quantity!

Europeana: to Which End?
Opening Statement

Europeana is much more than a machine for mechanical accumulation of object representations!

One of its characteristics will be to enable the generation of knowledge pertaining to culture!

The rest of the paper deals with

the implications of this initial statement in terms of information science;

the way we technically prepare to implement the necessary data structures and functionality;

the semantic functionality Europeana will offer using these elements to go well beyond the 'traditional' digital library paradigm.

Knowledge: a Challenging Concept too challenging for some

There are thing[sic!] we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know. So when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together, and we then say well that's basically what we see as the situation, that is really only the known knowns and the known unknowns. And each year, we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns.
Donald Rumsfeld on analysis on intelligence information, 6th June 2002

No consensual definition but a hierarchical continuum (DIKW)
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
(T.S. Eliot, "The Rock", Faber & Faber 1934)

Information Science has added Data to the hierarchy

DIKW: A Closer Look (1)

The stages are not discreet but form a continuum! No binary transitions!

Data

discrete, atomistic, small portions of 'givens' without inherent structure or necessary relationship between them.

Data have no meaning in themselves.

Phonetical level in linguistics

Information

Data + patterns

Meaningful data

Phonological / lexical level in linguistics

DIKW: A Closer Look (2)

Knowledge

Information as part of a context and useful in this context

Social or semantic context

Contextualisation enables (simple!) interpolative and deterministic reasoning.

Syntactic level in linguistics

Wisdom, facets of (Rowley & Slack, 2008)

is embedded in or exhibited through action;

sophisticated and sensitive use of knowledge;

is exhibited through decision making;

exercise of judgement in complex real-life situations;

requires consideration of ethical and social considerations;

builds on intuition, communication, and trust.

DIKW DIKT

Reduce complexity!

Replace the rich but diffuse concept 'wisdom' with 'thinking'

Mental activity we cannot (entirely) confer to machines

Non-deterministic

Semantic level in linguistics (wisdom would probably be on pragmatic level)

DIKW DIKT

DIKT: a Visualisation (1)




DIKT in Practice:
(Very dirty) data

DIKT in Practice:
Data + Pattern: Information

DIKT in Practice:
Information + Context: Knowledge

..., 1941, 1943,

, 1947, 1949, ...

1939 -

DIKT in Practice: Take Five
... and creative thinking

http://itunes.apple.com/de/album/dave-brubecks-greatest-hits/id157427923

Europeana in the DIKT Continuum

Definitely not a huge data agglomeration (even though building on one)!

Neither a huge information repository (even though building on many of them, again)!

High volume aggregation of digital representations of cultural artefacts together with rich contextualisation data and embedded in a Linked Open Data architecture.

Enabling knowledge generation

and maybe even speculative thinking

Semantic Contextualisation in Europeana: Class Model Context

Semantic Contextualisation in Europeana: Property Model Context

Basic Object RepresentationModeling using Classes and Properties

Semantic Contextualisation
in Europeana

Semantic Contextualisation in Europeana

And all this ends up in a huge datacloud: Linked Open Data

5

Europeana

An Example: Thoughtlab (1)

An Example (2)

The Datacloud Behind the
Example

An Example (3)

An Example (4)

An Example (5)

An Example (6)

An Example (7)

Adam & Eve

Conclusion:
from 'Connecting' to 'Thinking'

Thank you for your patience and attention!

And this transition in turn positions Europeana nicely in the DIKT continuum!

Europeana enables a crucial transition (as illustrated in its changing logos!)

ICDL 2010, New Delhi, 26 February 2010


Prof. Dr. Stefan Gradmann: Knowledge = Information in Context












Poznan, Polish Digital Libraries Conference, 09-12-2009

Business

Knowledge = Information + Context