The integration of OntoClean in WebODE

Enterprises will only be interested in the use of ontologies if such ontologies are evaluated enough. Therefore, the development of ontology evaluation tools is a crucial matter. We have built the ODEClean module in the workbench for building ontologies named WebODE. ODEClean allows cleaning taxonomies following the OntoClean method, and WebODE provides technical support to the Methontology methodology for building ontologies. We approached the development of this module in two steps. Firstly, we have integrated the OntoClean method into the conceptualisation activity of Methontology. Secondly, we have designed and implemented ODEClean using a declarative approach for specifying the knowledge to be used on the evaluation. ODEClean uses: (a) the Top Level of Universals, (b) metaproperties based on philosophical notions, and (c) OntoClean evaluation axioms. The main advantage of this approach is that the system could easily allow the user relax or stress the evaluation of the taxonomy just selecting more or less meta-properties

Methodologies, tools and languages for building ontologies. Where is their meeting point?

In this paper we review and compare the main methodologies, tools and languages for building ontologies that have been reported in the literature, as well as the main relationships among them. Ontology technology is nowadays mature enough: many methodologies, tools and languages are already available. The future work in this field should be driven towards the creation of a common integrated workbench for ontology developers to facilitate ontology development, exchange, evaluation, evolution and management, to provide methodological support for these tasks, and translations to and from different ontology languages. This workbench should not be created from scratch, but instead integrating the technology components that are currently available

Ontological Engineering: What are Ontologies and How Can We Build Them?

Ontologies are formal, explicit specifications of shared conceptualizations. There is much literature on what they are, how they can be engineered and where they can be used inside applications. All these literature can be grouped under the term “Ontological Engineering,” which is defined as the set of activities that concern the ontology development process, the ontology lifecycle, the principles, methods and methodologies for building ontologies, and the tool suites and languages that support them. In this chapter we provide an overview of Ontological Engineering, describing the current trends, issues and problem

Use of formal ontologies to support error checking in specifications

This paper explores the possibility of using formal ontologies to support detection of conceptual errors in specifications. We define a conceptual error as a misunderstanding of the application domain knowledge which results in undesirable behaviour of the software system. We explain how to use formal ontologies, and in particular ontological constraints, to tackle this problem. We present a flexible architecture based on meta interpretation in logic programming in which the specification is viewed as a multilayer design. We illustrate the significance of this approach for the software and ontology engineering community via an example case in the domain of ecological modelling