Ontologies

IS 277

Spring 2005

Outline Ontologies Types of ontologies Examples Ontology engineering Ontology standards Machine-readable ontologies

Ontologies

Ontos logos A theory of existence What the world is made of But only a theory Machine-readable

Types of ontologies

Document Metadata Domain Service

Examples Atomism Data models Taxonomies / classifications Controlled vocabularies Cataloguing standards

Ontology engineering Well-defined Coherent Extensible Modular Layered Independent of applications Minimal commitments

Ontology standards Islands of automation User groups Standards organizations Can fail Multiple, diverse standards Translation among them

Machine-readable ontologies Standardized ways of writing down

ontology standards XML, RDF, and OWL “Meaning” conferred by software