Ontology-driven conceptual modeling: A'systematic literature mapping and review

All rights reserved. Ontology-driven conceptual modeling (ODCM) is still a relatively new research domain in the field of information systems and there is still much discussion on how the research in ODCM should be performed and what the focus of this research should be. Therefore, this article aims to critically survey the existing literature in order to assess the kind of research that has been performed over the years, analyze the nature of the research contributions and establish its current state of the art by positioning, evaluating and interpreting relevant research to date that is related to ODCM. To understand and identify any gaps and research opportunities, our literature study is composed of both a systematic mapping study and a systematic review study. The mapping study aims at structuring and classifying the area that is being investigated in order to give a general overview of the research that has been performed in the field. A review study on the other hand is a more thorough and rigorous inquiry and provides recommendations based on the strength of the found evidence. Our results indicate that there are several research gaps that should be addressed and we further composed several research opportunities that are possible areas for future research

Conceptual modelling of Work Systems using ABC notation

This paper seeks to extend the Work System Method WSM of Steven Alter by means of a modelling notation and mechanism called ABC. It does so because it is often necessary to know (or at least to conjecture) how things, processes and events interrelate. Our contention, which we support by literature primarily derived from cybernetics, is that we must discern conceptual models, so as to understand and, potentially, to improve by design, active models – specifically, the information systems which support work systems. We do this in order to regulate work systems, whether actively by explicit control or implicitly by aiding learning, understanding and self-control by modellers and participants. This paper is not a definitive statement concerning ABC. Instead, it sufficiently introduces the modelling approach to enable the reader to understand some examples of the approach as applied to work systems. It can also serve in a tutorial approach to the ABC modelling of work systems

From a Culture of Borders to Borders of Cultures: Nationalism and the “Clash of Civilizations” in International Relations Theory

The Peace of Westphalia signed in 1648 signaled the beginning of the modern international system of states. International relations (IR) theory identifies this treaty as the founder of the principle of political sovereignty whereby each nation-state has full control over its territory and domestic affairs, thus it is the beginning of an international system of states. The latter is based on the sanctity and inviolability of interstate borders as its main defining feature. This paper investigates the recent developments in international relations and their significance to the concept of borders in IR theory; on the one hand, a “clash of civilizations” thesis assumes that new “fault lines” borders among civilizations of, mainly, different religions are taking precedence over traditional territorial borders of nation-states, while, on the other hand, a rise in conservative nationalism and, possibly, protectionism, over the traditionally liberal West reasserts the primacy of territorial borders in IR. In particular, this study examines whether such developments signal a paradigm shift in IR theory that may necessitate revisiting certain fundamentals of mainstream respective theories

Research information systems : use of VIVO ontology in the context of Brazilian institutions

Este artigo analisa as características da ontologia do VIVO-ISF em relação ao seu uso no domínio de instituições universitárias brasileiras,a fim de subsidiar a utilização do ambiente VIVO comosistema de informaçãode pesquisano Brasil. O trabalho identificou os objetivos, o escopo e características de modelagem da ontologia, levando em consideração aspectosem ontologias que beneficiam o desenvolvimento de aplicativos da web. Também analisou a ontologia quanto aoseu uso para descreveruma instituição brasileira, representada pela Faculdade de Biblioteconomia e Comunicação (Fabico), parte da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Os recursos, as unidades, as atividades e as posições administrativas da Fabico/UFRGS foram identificadas na forma em que foram definidas por documentos legais, como estatutos e regimentos; e foram descritas de acordo com a ontologia VIVO-ISF. O estudo concluiu que a ontologiaVIVO-ISF foi desenvolvida a partir de uma base conceitual bem fundamentada, a partir do reuso da ontologia de alto nível Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), trazendo facilidades para representar o amplodomínio acadêmico e para a realizar de extensões que incorporam características institucionais locais. A ontologia também proporciona interoperabilidade, reutilizando classes genéricas de BFO e selecionando classes de ontologias de domínio populares, como FOAF, Event, BiBO. Aontologia também é capaz de representar uma instituição acadêmica brasileira, fornecendo uma estrutura semântica bem definida para integração de dados da web que agiliza o processo de colaboração interdisciplinar e interinstitucional para a formação de redes de pesquisa, incluindo instituições brasileiras.This paper analyzes the characteristics of VIVO-ISF ontology concerning its use in the domain of Brazilian institutions, aiming at the use of VIVO asinstitutional research information systemin Brazil. The paper iden-tified the objectives, scope and modelling characteristics of the ontology, taking into consideration characteristics in ontologies that benefit the development of web applications. It also analyzed VIVO-ISF ontology in the context of its use to describe a Brazilian institution, represented by the Faculty of Library Sciences and Communication (Fabico), part of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Resources, bodies, activities and administrative positions of Fabico/UFRGS wereidentified as they were defined by legal docu-ments, such as statutes and bylaws, and they were described according toVIVO-ISF ontology. The study concluded that VIVO-ISF has a well-defined conceptual framework that utilizes high level BFO ontology, whichprovides facilities to represent the universe of the academic domain and to perform extensions that incorporate local institutional features. The ontology also provides interoperability between different applications, since it reuses generic BFO classes and itselects classes ofpopular domain ontologies, such as Foaf, Event, BiBO. The ontology is also capable of representing a Brazilian academic institution, providing a well-defined semantic framework for web data integration that streamlines the process of interdisciplinary and in-terinstitutional collaboration for the formation of research networks, including Brazilian institutions

Analysis and design as bricolage

Information Systems in generally acknowledged to be a complex field and many studies over time have quoted significant failure statistics. This paper seeks to answer the question - How to more appropriately evaluate and select information systems design (ISD) methods that better enable successful design outcomes. The research covers literature relating analysis and design, information systems design methods, complexity, ontology and conceptual modelling and how they relate to ISD. This research was conducted within a larger national research project aiming to improve organising practices within IT in organisations. To this end the research followed a participatory action research approach underpinned by systems thinking theoretical perspective. What emerged out of this study was the appreciation for the bricolage that takes during an analysis or design effort - this perspective highlighted the following factors that can enable improved method evaluation and selection, namely: Epistemology, Contextual Influences and Social Action. These factors are shown to operate in dialectic process that if engaged with can provide insight into what an appropriate method can be

Graphical and computationally intensive techniques for presenting and disseminating information about the genetics of disease: Possibilities, limitations, and additions

Exactly how genetic factors contribute to the onset of disease is not fully understood. All the same, information and images pertaining to genetics and disease remain arguably serviceable when they produce agreeable diagnostic, prognostic, and, ultimately, therapeutic results. This article begins with a historical survey of graphical techniques concerning hereditary disease. The article then goes on to show how information gathering and representation broadened steadily to accommodate genetic diagnostic tests. This leads, in a final step, to an examination of the capacity of computational genetics and genomics to generate working models of what causes disease. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT

A UML profile for the OBO relation ontology

Background: Ontologies have increasingly been used in the biomedical domain, which has prompted the emergence of different initiatives to facilitate their development and integration. The Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry consortium provides a repository of life-science ontologies, which are developed according to a set of shared principles. This consortium has developed an ontology called OBO Relation Ontology aiming at standardizing the different types of biological entity classes and associated relationships. Since ontologies are primarily intended to be used by humans, the use of graphical notations for ontology development facilitates the capture, comprehension and communication of knowledge between its users. However, OBO Foundry ontologies are captured and represented basically using text-based notations. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides a standard and widely-used graphical notation for modeling computer systems. UML provides a well-defined set of modeling elements, which can be extended using a built-in extension mechanism named Profile. Thus, this work aims at developing a UML profile for the OBO Relation Ontology to provide a domain-specific set of modeling elements that can be used to create standard UML-based ontologies in the biomedical domain. Results: We have studied the OBO Relation Ontology, the UML metamodel and the UML profiling mechanism. Based on these studies, we have proposed an extension to the UML metamodel in conformance with the OBO Relation Ontology and we have defined a profile that implements the extended metamodel. Finally, we have applied the proposed UML profile in the development of a number of fragments from different ontologies. Particularly, we have considered the Gene Ontology (GO), the PRotein Ontology (PRO) and the Xenopus Anatomy and Development Ontology (XAO). Conclusions: The use of an established and well-known graphical language in the development of biomedical ontologies provides a more intuitive form of capturing and representing knowledge than using only text-based notations. The use of the profile requires the domain expert to reason about the underlying semantics of the concepts and relationships being modeled, which helps preventing the introduction of inconsistencies in an ontology under development and facilitates the identification and correction of errors in an already defined ontology.CAPESInternational Conference on the Brazilian Association for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Florianópolis, Brazil, 12-15 October 201

What is the contribution of personal information management systems (PIMS) to the Working Model and personal work system of knowledge workers?

The thesis reports research into a phenomenon which it calls the personal working model of an individual knowledge worker. The principal conjecture addressed in this thesis is that each of us has a personal working model which is supported by a personal work system enabled by a personal information management system. For some people, these are well defined; for most they are not even explicit. By means of structured self-reflection aided by conceptual knowledge modelling within the context of a process of action learning they can be improved. That personal working model is predicted by Ashby's law of requisite variety and by the good regulator theorem of Conant and Ashby. The latter theorem states that the only good regulator of a system is a model of that system. The thesis and the work it reports result from a systemic approach to identifying the personal information management system and personal work system which together contribute to the personal working model. Starting with abductive conjecture, the author has sought to understand what models are and to explore ways in which those models can themselves be expressed. The thesis shows how a new approach to the conceptual modelling of aspects of the personal knowledge of knowledge worker was designed, built and then used. Similarly, the actual data used by a knowledge worker had to be stored, and for this purpose a personal information management system was also designed. Both these artefacts are evaluated in accordance with principles drawn from the literature of design science research. The research methodology adopted in the first phase of the research now ending also included a relatively novel approach in which the PhD student attempted to observe himself over the last five years of his PhD research – this approach is sometimes called autoethnography. This autoethnographic element is one of a number of methods used within an overall framework grounded by the philosophical approach called critical realism. The work reported in the thesis is initial exploratory research which, it is planned, will continue in empirical action research involving mentored action learning undertaken by professional knowledge workers