Towards a Canonical Method to Solve Patterns of Ontology Modeling Issues (9 Month Report)

This report presents a brief description of the different activities carried out in the field of ontology engineering. It identifies a lack of guidelines on how to address modeling issues during the ontology conceptualization phase, in the current methodologies to build ontologies from scratch. It describes an example scenario of an ontology modeling task and it proposes a possible solution inspired by folksonomy based systems and faceted classification. This is followed by a study of the difficulties found to adapt the IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard to model an ontology fit for purpose in a specific university curricula domain. It also gives an example of a prototype for a potential next generation semantic web application and a brief summary of the main viewpoints that will characterize such applications. Finally it outlines possible paths of further research to address ontology modeling issues and it suggests looking at various sources for possible solutions (schemes of folksonomy and faceted classification, design principles of object-oriented and relational database applications, and ontology evaluation)

Towards ontology design patterns to model multiple classification criteria of domain concepts in the semantic web

This thesis explores a very recurrent modeling scenario in ontology design that deals with the notion of real world concepts that can be classified according to multiple criteria. Current ontology modeling guidelines do not explicitly consider this aspect in the representation of such concepts. Such void leaves ample room for ad-hoc practices that can lead to unexpected or undesired results in ontology artifacts. The aim is to identify best practices and design patterns to represent such concepts in OWL DL ontologies suitable for deployment in the Web of Data and the Semantic Web. To assist with these issues, an initial set of basic design guidelines is put forward, that mitigates the opportunity for ad-hoc modeling decisions in the development of ontologies for the problem scenario described. These guidelines relies upon an existing simplified methodology for facet analysis from the field of Library and Information Science. The outcome of this facet analysis produces a Faceted Classification Scheme (FCS) for the concept in question where in most cases a facet would correspond to a classification criterion. The Value Partition, the Class As Property Value and the Normalisation Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) are revisited to produce an ontology representation of a FCS. A comparative analysis between a FCS and the Normalisation ODP in particular, revealed the existence of key similarities between the elements in the generic structure of both knowledge representation paradigms. These similarities allow to establish a series of mappings to transform a FCS into an OWL DL ontology that contains a valid representation of the classification criteria involved in the characterization of the domain concept. An existing FCS example in the domain of \Dishwasher Detergent" and existing ontology examples in the domain of \Pizza", \Wine" and \Fault" (in the context of a computer system) are used to illustrate the outcome of this researc

Untangling Domain Concepts in Ontology Design Patterns

To assist ontology developers modeling complex domain concepts, a comparative analysis of two Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) has been carried out. As a result, terminology is introduced to characterize certain role and reusability scenarios of class hierarchies in ODPs. An example that benefits from this study is provided

Whose "Fault" Is This? Untangling Domain Concepts in Ontology Design Patterns

Certain ontology domain concepts are difficult to model due to the complexity of their definition, the number of roles that they fulfill in the ontology or the different types of relationships they participate in. To assist ontologists in overcoming some of these challenges, a comparative analysis of two Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) has been carried out. As a result, terminology is introduced to describe the role and certain reusability characteristics of domain concepts in these ODPs. These findings provide a series of implications that make explicit certain modeling decisions that previously were implicit in the ontology modeling field. Our contribution is illustrated with a concrete example of a real world use case scenario that will benefit from the outcome of this study

Whose “Fault” Is This? Untangling Domain Concepts in an Ontology of Resilient Computing

Certain ontology domain concepts are difficult to model due to the complexity of their definition, the number of roles that they fulfill or the different types of relationships they participate in. To assist ontologists in overcoming these challenges, a comparative analysis of two Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) has been carried out. A terminology is introduced that describes the role and certain reusability scenarios of domain concepts in the ODPs studied. These findings make explicit certain potentially implicit modeling decisions previously taken in the ontology modeling field. Our contribution is illustrated with a concrete example from an ontology of resilient computing that will benefit from the outcome of this study

View inheritance as an extension of the normalization ontology design pattern

There are ontology domain concepts that are difficult to represent due to the complexities in their definition and the presence of multiple alternative criteria to classify their abstractions. To assist ontologists in overcoming these challenges, an analysis of available design patterns in ontology and object-oriented modeling has been carried out. As a result, the View Inheritance Ontology Design Pattern (ODP) is introduced. The pattern extends the Normalization ODP (a.k.a. Untangling or Modularization) and reveals the notion of Inter- and Intra-criterion Multiple Inheritance. Our contribution is illustrated with a concrete example of a use case scenario that benefits from the outcome of this study

On the practical modeling of conceptual overlap among multiple facets in ontology domain concepts (Mini-thesis)

This report presents a study on the practical modelling of the conceptual overlap that might exist among the multiple facets that define a particular ontology domain concept. The notions of conceptual overlap and facet are defined, together with their relation to scenarios of multiple inheritance in ontology models. Starting from the notion of a value partition, a terminology of ontology modelling constructs is introduced that allows the characterization of two types of conceptual overlap with respect to the domain concept being examined: internal and external. These considerations make explicit some of the implicit modelling decisions taken previously in the field of ontology modelling. It also puts forward, a methodology to address this problem in a structured manner comprised of a series of steps which include a specific entry and exit criterion. The contribution of this research is proven with the modelling of the conceptual overlap in the “Fault” ontology domain concept that is part of the ReSIST projec

Using a Semantic MediaWiki to interact with a knowledge based infrastructure

Facilitating knowledge acquisition is a task that usually requires special purpose interfaces with which users are not familiar. Providing effective acquisition through a familiar interface, such as a wiki, can provide a route to acquiring knowledge for low user investment. We present an architecture that is being used in the ReSIST project based on a Semantic MediaWiki integrated with a knowledge base that allows users to add and view knowledge using normal Semantic MediaWiki syntax. The architecture aims to facilitate the acquisition and representation of knowledge about resilient systems for users with no experience of knowledge technologies