Re: [SKOS]: [ISSUE 44] BroaderNarrowerSemantics

On Dec 13, 2007, at 10:49 AM, Reul, Q. H. wrote:

> For these vocabulary to be fully across multiple applications (as  
> intended), I believe that semantic relations can't be either  
> "transitive" or "non-transitive". Otherwise, the working group  
> should give proper guidelines on how to deal with such occurrences.


My reading of Z39.19-2005  §8.3 is that  hierarchical relationships in  
thesauri should always be transitive; §8.4 makes it clear that  
associative relationships need not be (see e.g. §8.4.1.3).

I've been looking at this issue rather closely lately in the context  
of the Library of Congress Subject Headings.   If BT  relationships in  
the LCSH are treated as if they were, um, Broader Terms,  the  
inferences one obtained are rather idiosyncratic.   If SKOS is altered  
to make  broader less-transitive, it would certainly make converting  
the LCSH to SKOS easier.  Unfortunately, it would also make the  
resulting vocabulary much less useful.    It's not SKOS's fault; it's  
the data.

  Incidentally, the problem is less to do with Cows as Mammals, and  
more to do with Doorbells as Mammals...

Mammals → Primates → Hominids → Human beings → Ethnology →  
Acculturation → Diffusion of innovations → Technology transfer →  
New products →
Design, Industrial → Engineering design → Structural design →  
Building → Building fittings → Door fittings → Doorbells



Simon

p.s.

   Intercontinental ballistic missiles are books

Library materials → Books → Illustration of books → Drawing →  
Geometrical drawing → Design → Design, Industrial → Engineering  
design → Materials →
Hazardous substances → Gases, Asphyxiating and poisonous → Gas →  
Gas manufacture and works → Gas-machines → Gas producers →
Internal combustion engines → Jet propulsion → Rockets (Ordnance)  
→ Guided missiles → Ballistic missiles → Intercontinental  
ballistic missiles → Atlas (Missile)