In describing what taxonomies and ontologies are and what they can do, we are hearing the word “semantics” more often. “Semantics” means “meaning,” which is nothing new, and taxonomies and ontologies are not new. What is new is that taxonomies and ontologies are now combined more, and we need a…
Tag: Knowledge organization systems
Knowledge Engineering and Taxonomies
My latest conference workshop (at SEMANTiCS September 7) on taxonomies and ontologies had in its title “knowledge engineering.” I figured this may resonate more with the audience of computer scientists, data scientists, and Semantic technology and AI experts. People come (often accidentally) to the field of designing taxonomies, ontologies, and…
Taxonomy Trends
Last fall I gave an 8-minute video presentation as part of the SEMANTiCS Video Forum 2020 on the subject of taxonomy trends, but the short talk allowed time to discuss only two of the past year’s trends. More recently, I reflected on longer-term trends in taxonomies when the chair, Jane…
Differing Definitions of Ontologies
In my last blog post I discussed the different definitions and features of thesauri. Now, I will turn to the next kind of knowledge organization system in the spectrum of complexity: ontologies. Actually, to consider an ontology as a more (or most) complex type of controlled vocabulary or knowledge organization…
Knowledge Modeling
I recently presented a webinar on “knowledge modeling.” I usually have spoken or written only of creating controlled vocabularies, or more specifically taxonomies, rather than creating knowledge models. Now, I am beginning to think of knowledge models and knowledge modeling. A knowledge model is not just a fancy buzzword for…
Taxonomies as Knowledge Organization Systems
A taxonomy is a kind of controlled vocabulary. A taxonomy is also a kind of knowledge organization system. So, the question is: what’s the difference, if any, between a controlled vocabulary and a knowledge organization system? When I first heard of “knowledge organization system” I perceived it as merely a…