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RE: [ontac-forum] Upper ontology / common semantic model

To: ONTAC-WG General Discussion <ontac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: Dagobert Soergel <dsoergel@xxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 00:15:01 -0400
Message-id: <6.2.5.6.2.20051011000412.04b34eb0@xxxxxxx>
See responses below.    (01)

DS    (02)

At 10/10/2005 04:20 AM, you wrote:
>Dear Dagobert,
>
>See below.
>
>
>Regards
>
>Matthew West
>Reference Data Architecture and Standards Manager
>Shell International Petroleum Company Limited
>Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA, United Kingdom
>
>Tel: +44 20 7934 4490 Mobile: +44 7796 336538
>Email: matthew.west@xxxxxxxxx
>Internet: http://www.shell.com
>http://www.matthew-west.org.uk/
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ontac-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:ontac-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
> > Dagobert Soergel
> > Sent: 09 October 2005 20:19
> > To: ontac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [ontac-forum] Upper ontology / common semantic model
> >
> >
> > I am separating out this part of the thread.
> > I apologize if some of this is obvious.  It is often "hard to
> > understand what is understood".
> >
> > This is a suggested plan of work for the upper ontology subgroup
> >
> > 1       Collect suggested upper ontologies    (03)



> >
> > 2       Compare and determine differences
> > 2.1             In elements (presence / absence and, more difficult,
> > definition)
> > 2.2             in relationships
>
>MW: It is very easy for this to become sterile if it is not grounded in
>doing something practical, so I would suggest mapping some limited set of
>lower level concepts into each of them would be a better way to discover
>the similarities/differences - which may be as much in the approach to
>analysis as the concepts contained.    (04)

This is not inconsistent with what I suggested    (05)

> >
> > 3       Try to resolve differences, creating a superstructure
> > that incorporates
> >          the non-contradictory parts of various schemes
>
>MW: This would doom the exercise to failure. People whose treasured
>ontologies were marginalised would leave rather than see what they
>had done "wrecked". It was trying to do this that largely stopped progress
>in the SUO WG effort (IMHO).
>
>Of course, identifying concepts that were identical would be a useful
>exercise in all this.
>
>Rather what I think is necessary is to identify what John Sowa would call
>a "lattice of theories" so that contradictory as well as non-contradictory
>elements can be included from upper ontologies. That way you keep people
>on board, and perhaps we all learn something from the different perspectives,
>and over time move more closely together. (I believe some collective learning
>is a prerequisite for success).    (06)

The "superstructure" would not replace the existing ontologies but 
provide a means for mapping.  I think what I have in mind is the same 
as or very similar to Sowa's lattice.  I believe that the process I 
outlined is a way to get there.    (07)

Note: It is not necessary to start from all upper 
ontologies.  Starting from a few upper ontologies that are especially 
important to the purpose at hand would lead to a first iteration 
superstructure that could then be expanded by incrementally adding 
other ontologies as the need arises.    (08)



> > 3.1             By adding elements
> > 3.2             By adding relationships
> >
> > 4       Articulate the remaining differences so that they are clearly
> > understood
> >
> > In addition, the subgroup should deal with ontologies that can be
> > reused in many contexts, such as an ontology of time concepts.
> >
> > My reworking of the WordNet top level (attached) may be
> > useful in this context.
> >
> > DS
> >
> >
> > Dagobert Soergel
> > College of Information Studies
> > University of Maryland
> > 4105 Hornbake Library
> > College Park, MD 20742-4345
> > Office: 301-405-2037     Home:  703-823-2840        Mobile:
> > 703-585-2840
> > OFax:   301-314-9145        HFax: 703-823-6427
> > dsoergel@xxxxxxx     www.dsoergel.com
> >
>
>
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Dagobert Soergel
College of Information Studies
University of Maryland
4105 Hornbake Library
College Park, MD 20742-4345
Office: 301-405-2037     Home:  703-823-2840        Mobile: 703-585-2840
OFax:   301-314-9145        HFax: 703-823-6427
dsoergel@xxxxxxx     www.dsoergel.com     (010)


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