What's an ontology?
February, 2003
This article originated with a member
question, "How do you define ontology?" Included below are some
definitions, examples, and references along with comments from members.
Although ontology is a fundamental concept in the study of philosophy,
this discussion is limited to its use in information management.
What's an ontology?
The short answer is:
| "A representation of
a specific concept model that describes complex relationships between
things, including rules and axioms." |
Ontologies can exist as mental models, computer models, or a combination
of both. Software engineers working on ways of representing knowledge
for artificial intelligence applications borrowed the term "ontology"
from philosophy, where it's a branch of study about the nature and relations
of Being. In computer science, the philosophical concept of "being"
translates roughly into the concept of "domain" — a sphere
of activity that includes specific users, content, and business processes.
Why is ontology a hot topic?
The current interest in ontologies comes from two business drivers:
- Improve information retrieval
- Integrate data from multiple applications
Examples of each are given below.
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