WebPicker: Knowledge Extraction from Web Resources

We show how information distributed in several web resources and represented in different restricted languages can be extracted from its original sources and transformed into a common knowledge model represented in XML using WebPicker. This information, which has been built to cover different needs and functionalities, can be later imported into WebODE, integrated, enriched and exported into different representation formats using WebODE specific modules. We show a case study in the e-commerce domain, using products and services standards from several organizations and/or joint initiatives of industrial and services companies, and a product catalogue from an e-commerce platform

Solving Integration Problems of e-commerce Standards and initiatives through ontological mappings

The proliferation of different standards and joint initiatives for the classification of products and services (UNSPSC, e-class, RosettaNet, NAICS, SCTG, etc.) reveals that B2B markets have not reached a consensus on coding systems, level of detail of their descriptions, granularity, etc. This paper shows how these standards and initiatives, which are built to cover different needs and functionalities, can be integrated using a common multi-layered knowledge architecture through ontological mappings. This multi-layered ontology will provide a shared understanding of the domain for applications of e-commerce, allowing information sharing and interoperation between heterogeneous systems. We will present a tool called WebPicker and a method for integrating these standards and initiatives, enriching them and obtaining the results in different formats using the WebODE platform. As an illustration, we show a case study on the computer domain, presenting the ontological mappings between UNSPSC, e-class, RosettaNet and an electronic catalogue from an e-commerce platform

An information retrieval approach to ontology mapping

In this paper, we present a heuristic mapping method and a prototype mapping system that support the process of semi-automatic ontology mapping for the purpose of improving semantic interoperability in heterogeneous systems. The approach is based on the idea of semantic enrichment, i.e., using instance information of the ontology to enrich the original ontology and calculate similarities between concepts in two ontologies. The functional settings for the mapping system are discussed and the evaluation of the prototype implementation of the approach is reported. \ud \u

Ozone: An Insulating Layer Between Ontologies, Databases and Object Oriented Applications

Recent research shows that ontologies are a prominent tool for the semantic integration of heterogeneous data sources. However, in existing ontology-based systems the ontologies are tightly coupled with the rest of the system components. As a result, large parts of the system have to be developed in a logic programming language, typically used in describing ontologies, and adhere to the ontological knowledge model and representation. This eventually impedes the use of ontologies in industrial integrated systems. In this paper, we present an architecture that isolates the ontologybased components, waives the representation and programming language constraints and simplifies the knowledge model that components outside the ontology have to be aware of. The architecture makes it possible to access the ontological information and the federated data using exclusively object-oriented structures and interfaces. We show that it allows new databases to easily join the federation by implementing a standard database interface. The architecture has been implemented and evaluated in the field of information retrieval for e-commerce. We review the principal results and limitations of this case study

Ontology mapping by concept similarity

This paper presents an approach to the problem of mapping ontologies. The motivation for the research stems from the Diogene Project which is developing a web training environment for ICT professionals. The system includes high quality training material from registered content providers, and free web material will also be made available through the project's "Web Discovery" component. This involves using web search engines to locate relevant material, and mapping the ontology at the core of the Diogene system to other ontologies that exist on the Semantic Web. The project's approach to ontology mapping is presented, and an evaluation of this method is described

The IGN-E case: Integrating through a hidden ontology

National Geographic Institute of Spain (IGN-E) wanted to integrate its main information sources for building a common vocabulary reference and thus to manage the huge amount of information it held. The main problem of this integration is the great heterogeneity of data sources. The Ontology Engineering Group (OEG) is working with IGN-E to attain this objective in two phases: first, by creating automatically an ontology using the semantics of catalogues sections, and second, by discovering mappings automatically that can relate ontology concepts to database instances. So, these mappings are the instruments to break the syntactic, semantic and granularity heterogeneity gap. We have developed software for building a first ontology version and for discovering automatically mappings using techniques that take into account all types of heterogeneity. The ontology contains a set of extra-attributes which are identified in the building process. The ontology, called PhenomenOntology, will be reviewed by domain experts of IGN-E. The automatic mapping discovery will be also used for discovering new knowledge that will be added to the ontology. For increasing the usability and giving independence to different parts, the processes of each phase will be designed automatically and as upgradeable as possible

An Ontological Basis for Design Methods

This paper presents a view of design methods as process artefacts that can be represented using the function-behaviour-structure (FBS) ontology. This view allows identifying five fundamental approaches to methods: black-box, procedural, artefact-centric, formal and managerial approaches. They all describe method structure but emphasise different aspects of it. Capturing these differences addresses common terminological confusions relating to methods. The paper provides an overview of the use of the fundamental method approaches for different purposes in designing. In addition, the FBS ontology is used for developing a notion of prescriptiveness of design methods as an aggregate construct defined along four dimensions: certainty, granularity, flexibility and authority. The work presented in this paper provides an ontological basis for describing, understanding and managing design methods throughout their life cycle. Keywords: Design Methods; Function-Behaviour-Structure (FBS) Ontology; Prescriptive Design Knowledge</p

Data shopping in an open marketplace: introducing the Ontogrator web application for marking up data using ontologies and browsing using facets

In the future, we hope to see an open and thriving data market in which users can find and select data from a wide range of data providers. In such an open access market, data are products that must be packaged accordingly. Increasingly, eCommerce sellers present heterogeneous product lines to buyers using faceted browsing. Using this approach we have developed the Ontogrator platform, which allows for rapid retrieval of data in a way that would be familiar to any online shopper. Using Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS), especially ontologies, Ontogrator uses text mining to mark up data and faceted browsing to help users navigate, query and retrieve data. Ontogrator offers the potential to impact scientific research in two major ways: 1) by significantly improving the retrieval of relevant information; and 2) by significantly reducing the time required to compose standard database queries and assemble information for further research. Here we present a pilot implementation developed in collaboration with the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) that includes content from the StrainInfo, GOLD, CAMERA, Silva and Pubmed databases. This implementation demonstrates the power of ontogration and highlights that the usefulness of this approach is fully dependent on both the quality of data and the KOS (ontologies) used. Ideally, the use and further expansion of this collaborative system will help to surface issues associated with the underlying quality of annotation and could lead to a systematic means for accessing integrated data resources