From: Gary Berg-Cross
[mailto:gary.berg-cross@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
5:45 PM
To: ontac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ontac-forum] Questions
and thoughts on using a 11179 registry for ontology registration
Denise ,
You mentioned the possible use of thence
registry, based on ISO 11179 (data element definition) for ontologies.
>Its partitioned into 'Contexts' so its
conceivable that one could be set up for Ontology Working Group'
project, if its a close enough fit...the idea of independently
entering concepts and allowing them to be classified into multiple
classification schemes is easily supported - with a few > additional
business rules to support the ONTAC Context it might be an easy way to get going?
This may be useful, but I’d like to
know something about your top level concepts that categorize and organize the
data elements.
I know that Frank Olken has discussed how
ontologies can support ISO/IEC 11179 registries and listed the following reasons:
- Ontologies
can be used as a mechanism to link together (DB) schemas.
- Ontologies
can be used as a classification scheme to organize data element concepts,
etc.
- Ontologies
are interesting objects to register in their own right.
- If we can
register ontologies in ISO/IEC 11179 registries we could avoid the
creation of multiple types of metadata registries (one for data elements,
etc. and another for ontologies).
- Integration
of ontology registration into ISO/IEC 11179 registries will facilitate
maintenance of referential integrity constraints between data element
concept definitions and domain specific ontologies.
- Ontologies /
axiom sets provide a possible common mechanism to encode a wide variety of
integrity constraints concerning database schemas, etc.
The third item, registering ontologies, is
just what you propose.
It has always seemed to me, however, that
defining elements in relative isolation hides the really hard aspect of
ontology as an integrated model. Thus the approach of building up
an ontology from data elements semantics may be deceptively simple for a
while and then run into a steep incline.
Gary Berg-Cross
EM&I
Enterprise Architecture and
Onology