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Ontologies: Principles, methods and applications (1996)
| Venue: | KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING REVIEW |
| Citations: | 582 - 3 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Uschold96ontologies:principles,,
author = {Mike Uschold and Michael Gruninger},
title = {Ontologies: Principles, methods and applications},
journal = {KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING REVIEW},
year = {1996},
volume = {11},
pages = {93--136}
}
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Abstract
This paper is intended to serve as a comprehensive introduction to the emerging field concerned with the design and use of ontologies. We observe that disparate backgrounds, languages, tools, and techniques are a major barrier to effective communication among people, organisations, and/or software systems. We show how the development and implementation of an explicit account of a shared understanding (i.e. an `ontology') in a given subject area, can improve such communication, which in turn, can give rise to greater reuse and sharing, inter-operability, and more reliable software. After motivating their need, we clarify just what ontologies are and what purposes they serve. We outline a methodology for developing and evaluating ontologies, first discussing informal techniques, concerning such issues as scoping, handling ambiguity, reaching agreement and producing de nitions. We then consider the bene ts of and describe, a more formal approach. We re-visit the scoping phase, and discuss the role of formal languages and techniques in the specification, implementation and evaluation of ontologies. Finally, we review the state of the art and practice in this emerging field,
