Automatic detection of accommodation steps as an indicator of knowledge maturing

Jointly working on shared digital artifacts – such as wikis – is a well-tried method of developing knowledge collectively within a group or organization. Our assumption is that such knowledge maturing is an accommodation process that can be measured by taking the writing process itself into account. This paper describes the development of a tool that detects accommodation automatically with the help of machine learning algorithms. We applied a software framework for task detection to the automatic identification of accommodation processes within a wiki. To set up the learning algorithms and test its performance, we conducted an empirical study, in which participants had to contribute to a wiki and, at the same time, identify their own tasks. Two domain experts evaluated the participants’ micro-tasks with regard to accommodation. We then applied an ontology-based task detection approach that identified accommodation with a rate of 79.12%. The potential use of our tool for measuring knowledge maturing online is discussed

How Controlled English can Improve Semantic Wikis

The motivation of semantic wikis is to make acquisition, maintenance, and mining of formal knowledge simpler, faster, and more flexible. However, most existing semantic wikis have a very technical interface and are restricted to a relatively low level of expressivity. In this paper, we explain how AceWiki uses controlled English - concretely Attempto Controlled English (ACE) - to provide a natural and intuitive interface while supporting a high degree of expressivity. We introduce recent improvements of the AceWiki system and user studies that indicate that AceWiki is usable and useful

AceWiki: A Natural and Expressive Semantic Wiki

We present AceWiki, a prototype of a new kind of semantic wiki using the controlled natural language Attempto Controlled English (ACE) for representing its content. ACE is a subset of English with a restricted grammar and a formal semantics. The use of ACE has two important advantages over existing semantic wikis. First, we can improve the usability and achieve a shallow learning curve. Second, ACE is more expressive than the formal languages of existing semantic wikis. Our evaluation shows that people who are not familiar with the formal foundations of the Semantic Web are able to deal with AceWiki after a very short learning phase and without the help of an expert.Comment: To be published as: Proceedings of Semantic Web User Interaction at CHI 2008: Exploring HCI Challenges, CEUR Workshop Proceeding

Semantic wikis and the collaborative construction of ontologies: a case study

Ontologies are complex artifacts. They should seek consensus on the use of a set of modeled concepts. Some authors propose that these devices would be beneficial if they were built collaboratively. This article aims to address the use of a semantic wiki as an alternative to the collaborative construction of ontologies, and describes its ontological structure. Wikis are known as tools for collaborative construction of content. The semantic wiki is a research effort to integrate the concepts of wikis with the semantic web. The case study presented shows an implementation in Semantic MediaWiki: the best known and most used semantic wiki features by the academic community and the organizational environment

Semantic Web Technologies for Digital Libraries: From Libraries to Social Semantic Digital Libraries (SSDL), Over Semantic Digital Libraries (SDL)

Digital libraries have been an important source of information throughout the history of mankind. It has been present in our societies in different forms. Notably, traditional libraries have found their on the desktops of internet users. They have taken the shape of semantic digital libraries, which are accessible at any time, and accordingly provide a more meaningful search. This paper further discusses social semantic digital libraries that also incorporate the social and collaborative aspect

Loki : the semantic wiki for collaborative knowledge engineering

We present Loki, a semantic wiki designed to support the collaborative knowledge engineering process with the use of software engineering methods. Designed as a set of DokuWiki plug-ins, it provides a variety of knowledge representation methods, including semantic annotations, Prolog clauses, and business processes and rules oriented to specific tasks. Knowledge stored in Loki can be retrieved via SPARQL queries, in-line Semantic MediaWiki-like queries, or Prolog goals. Loki includes a number of useful features for a group of experts and knowledge engineers developing the wiki, such as knowledge visualization, ontology storage, or code hint and completion mechanism. Reasoning unit tests are also introduced to validate knowledge quality. The paper is complemented by the formulation of the collaborative knowledge engineering process and the description of experiments performed during Loki development to evaluate its functionality. Loki is available as free software at https://loki.re

Energy Counselling and Modern IT. Drawing on Web 2.0 for a Greener World

The aim of this article is to explore how modern IT solutions for collaborative knowledge evolution could lead to more effective energy counselling and increased energy knowledge among the public. Comparative studies have been performed where the focus has been on the prerequisites for effective use of web 2.0 type collaboration and wikis. The research is primarily aimed at actors within the energy sector, although similar developments also take place in other sectors. Targeted investments employing collaborative IT to involve the public in energy counselling could lead to lower energy consumption and an increased consciousness of environmental issues in the society. A conclusion is that web 2.0-like initiatives could play a valuable role in the knowledge development and exchange between energy counsellors, and further the knowledge exchange between the counsellors, the regional energy agencies and the public. They could also help channel an energy interest among the public into a collaborative knowledge production, and contribute to a good quality factual basis for the conceptions that develop in society. This would strengthen both the energy counselling and the energy counsellor corps.communities, sustainability, sector transcendence, energy counselling, web 2.0.