LIS622: Information Storage and Retrieval

UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

BYDonald Flywell E. Malanga

ONTOLOGY CREATION AND USE IN THE INFORMATION SCIENCE FIELD

 

ORIGIN OF ONTOLOGY

The term “ontology” has been used for number of years in different fields: AI, KM, Computer science as standard terminology.

It has now been adopted in Information science to aid in IR

Borrowed from philosophy where it means systematic account of existence

DEFINITIONS OF ONTOLOGY

In Information Science, ontology can be defined as follows:

1.An ontology is a vocabulary of concepts and relations that enable us to express knowledge and intention without semantic ambiguity (Fisseba, 2003).

2.An ontology is a set of concepts such as things, events, and relations that are specific in some way in order to create an agreed-upon vocabulary for exchanging information( Fisseba, 2003)

REASONS FOR CREATION(DEVELOPMENT) OF

ONTOLOGIES. Lack of standards(shared knowledge)- rich in

semantics and represented in machine understandable form (Fisseba, 2003)..

Differences in terminology- ontologies are capable of solving problems that arise from using different terminology ie. Synonyms, antonyms (Fisseba, 2003).

Inability to use information resources on web.

Difficulty in information integrationProblem in knowledge sharing (Fisseba, 2003).

TYPES OF ONTOLOGYTop-level ontologies.-describes general notions independent of a

particular domain-are applicable across domains ie things,

events, time ,space.Domain ontologies-Specific to a particular domainApplication/ task ontologies-related to a

particular task or domain.Languistic ontologies (Gruninger& Uschold, 1996)

COMPONENTS OF ONTOLOGIESClasses- Sets, collections, conceptProperties-aspects, attributes, features,

characteristicsInstances-individuals or objects Relations-ways in which classes and

individuals can be related to one anotherRestrictions-formally stated descriptions of

what must be true in order for some assertion to be accepted as input

Rules-statements in the form of an if-then sentence that describe the logical inferences that can be drawn from an assertion in a particular form

Examples of ontologyClass definition statements: Parent isA Class , Mother isA Class, Mother subClassOf Parent , Child is A Class Property definition statements: isMother Of is A Property  

is Mother Of domain Mother is Mother Of range Child

Individual/instance statements: Kelinah Malanga is A Mother Flywell Malanga is A Child Kelinah Malanga isMotherOf Flywell Malanga

STEPS IN DEVELOPING ONTOLOGIES

There mainly five steps:Identify purposeIndentify scopeDesign(build) ontology

-Capture-code

EvaluationDocumentation

QUALITIES/ CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD ONTOLOGY

Clarity-have minimal ambiguities

Coherence-internally consistent

ExtensibilityMinimal coding biasMinimal commitment

USES/FUNCTIONS OF ONTOLOGIES IN INFORMATION SCIENCE FIELD

Facilitates communication-reduce conceptual and terminological

confusion-Enable shared understanding and

communication between librarians and users with different needs and view points

-It provides ambiguous definition for terms used in library systems software

CONT >>>Aid in information retrieval purposes-Easy retrieval of information without

using complicated Boolean operators-improve recall through query

expansion(BT, RT, NT relations)-improved information retrieval across

languages-improved precision through semantics

that give meaning to words (Miller, 2013)

CONT>>>Lead to development of digital (Virtual) libraries.

-Web OPAC from machine readable metadata-Automatic indexing and annotation of web pages

with meanings-Site organization and navigation support-Context based organizations of information

resourcesInformation integration with different user

perspectives-Shared ontology allow librarians to use standard

terminology for all objects and relations in their domains (Gruninger & Uschold, 1996)

CONT>>>Interoperability-Application of ontology in libraries and other

fields have solved issues on software compatibility. Therefore, there is improved exchange of data

-Improved knowledge sharing

ADVANTAGES OF USING ONTOLOGIES IN INFORMATION

SCIENCE FIELDMeaning is explicit.Meaning is human and computer readable.Ease of updating, no need to find terms in free

text and change them.Data transfer possible without loss of meaning.Reasoning to aid annotation.Reasoning to aid queries.Annotation of multiple bodies of data based on

underlying ontologies facilitates its integration to build another level of complexity (Topalis, n.d)

CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, use of ontology in

information science is very important tool since it helps in management of information resources and their retrieval for customer satisfaction.

However, there is need for continued research and development remains critical tools to achieve optimum use of ontologies

REFERENCES Fisseba, F.(2003) The basics of ontology: Nordic Agricultural

Ontology Service(AOS) Workshop. Royal veterinary and Agricultural University. Copenhagen: Denmark.

Gruninger, M. & Uschold, M. (1996) Ontologies: Principles, Methods and Applications. Vol.2(2).

Miller, S.J. (2013). Introduction to Ontology Concepts and Terminology. Tutorials. University of Winsconsin-Milwaukee.

Topalis, P. (n.d) Ontology Prommer. NIAD Bioinformatics Resource Centre for Vertebrate Vectors of Human Pathogens.