Re: TR : [SKOS]: [ISSUE 44] BroaderNarrowerSemantics

isNarrowerThan  isBroaderThan is even clearer, IMO. The test for  
clarity would be to use the predicate in a sentence and see if it  
makes sense. So compare

"train" isBroaderThan "train station"

vs

"train station" hasBroader "train"

Am I the only one who finds the first easier to understand?

-Alan

On Jan 15, 2008, at 3:31 AM, Sini, Margherita (KCEW) wrote:

>
> I also have the same problem referring to the ambiguity of BT (is a  
> BT or has
> BT ?), therefore I propose that the skos relationships could  
> include the
> verb:
>
> 	skos:hasBroader and skos:hasNarrower.
>
> This will avoid confusion.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: public-swd-wg-request@w3.org [mailto:public-swd-wg- 
> request@w3.org] On
> Behalf Of Leonard Will
> Sent: 14 January 2008 22:47
> To: SWD WG; SKOS
> Subject: Re: TR : [SKOS]: [ISSUE 44] BroaderNarrowerSemantics
>
>
>
> On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 at 18:15:23, Antoine Isaac <aisaac@few.vu.nl>  
> wrote
>> I'd like to have your opinion on the example I will adapt from in  
>> [1],
>> itself adapted from Simon's previous mails
>
>> Consider we have a thesaurus that says:
>
>>> mountains regions BT Himalaya
>>> Himalaya BT Everest
>
>
> Antoine -
>
> Just to clarify this example first, I should note that the normal  
> convention
> in thesaurus circles, and in BS8723-2, para.8.3.1, is to interpret  
> BT as
> meaning "has the broader term" and NT as "has the narrower term".   
> ISO 2788,
> paragraph 4.1, also reads
>
>         BT Broader term; the term that follows the symbol represents a
>         concept having a wider meaning
>
> I remember some previous discussion on the SKOS list about the  
> ambiguity of
> using these abbreviations the other way round, to mean "is the  
> broader term
> of", for example. This can easily give rise to confusion and should  
> be sorted
> out urgently. Thus I would write your example above as
>
> mountainous regions
> NT Himalaya
>
> Himalaya
> NT Everest
>
> where the first is in fact an NTI relationship (i.e., for Margherita's
> benefit, narrower term instantive, meaning that the proper name  
> Himalaya is a
> specific instance of a mountainous region, the reciprocal  
> relationship being
> BTI). The second is a NTP relationship (i.e. narrower term  
> partitive, meaning
> that Everest is a part of the Himalaya, reciprocal BTP).
>
>> If BT is transitive, than for the query "give me the concepts that
>> linked tio montains regions via BT" we'll get "Himalaya" and  
>> "Everest".
>> To me (and others), this raise the following issues:
>
>> - "mountains regions" BT "Everest" may seem questionable  
>> (especially if
>> we know this KOS to be carefully designed, following e.g. ISO2788!)
>
>> - both concepts are now given as if siblings, losing track of the
>> initial design.
>>
>> In the end I feel that the second is the most serious one, since  
>> if we
>> go for a very rough specification of broader (fitting classification
>> schemes' idea of hierarchy for instance) we could still argue that
>> indeed there is a form a 'broader' statement between the two  
>> concepts.
>> But anyway, I'd like to have your opinion on both ;-)
>
> I think the issue is how transitivity is to be used. The main use of a
> hierarchy, apart from displaying structure and giving logical paths  
> for
> navigation, is to allow a search for a concept to be expanded to  
> include
> narrower concepts. In the generic case this is valid because the  
> narrower
> concepts are specific classes which fall within the broader  
> concept. The
> rules for indexing are generally that you allocate the most  
> specific terms
> possible to a document, and you can rely on the thesaurus to enable  
> these
> concepts to be found even when the search is expressed in broader  
> terms.
>
> The whole/part or "partitive" relationship can lead to problems, and
> BS8723-2, paragraph 8.3.3.1 says that it should normally be  
> restricted to
> four specific cases:
>
> a) systems and organs of the body
> b) geographical locations
> c) disciplines or fields of discourse
> d) hierarchical social structures.
>
> The "Himalaya NTP Everest" example falls into case b), and it is  
> reasonable
> that someone searching for information about the Himalaya and any  
> of its
> parts should wish to retrieve items that have been indexed with the  
> term
> "Everest".
>
> I agree that if transitivity is to work across mixed types of  
> relationship,
> we would have to interpret NT to mean "has the more specific  
> concept, part or
> instance", to generalise what Simon Spero suggested. If you then had
>
> EU countries
> NTI France
>
> France
> NTP Paris
>
> it would be true to say that Paris is a more specific concept, part or
> instance of an EU country. Perhaps we should adopt this meaning.
>
> We should note, though, that this type of interpretation is used when
> deciding how to expand a search using a thesaurus hierarchy. It  
> does not
> allow you to modify the hierarchy itself, by designating France and  
> Paris as
> siblings. BS8723-2, paragraph 14.3 g), specifically forbids this,  
> saying
>
>         Validation checks should prevent the entry of inadmissible
>         relationship combinations. If two terms already have one of  
> the
>         standard relationships, no other standard relationship between
>         the same terms is admissible. If term A has BT term B, none of
>         the terms in the BT hierarchy above term B should be  
> admissible
>         as BT, NT or RT of term A.
>
> This means that we cannot create a direct relationship which jumps  
> over the
> middle concept. It seems to me that we have two options:
>
> 1. If the consequence of this is that transitivity is in general  
> not valid,
> then SKOS should reflect that;
>
> 2. If we accept the generalised definition of hierarchical  
> relationship, e.g.
> using NT to mean "has the more specific concept, part or instance",  
> then we
> can assume transitivity.
>
> I don't know which of these fits best with the purpose and approach  
> of SKOS.
> I think the decision should come from an examination of use cases.
>
> Leonard
> -- 
> Willpower Information       (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E  
> Will)
> Information Management Consultants              Tel: +44 (0)20 8372  
> 0092
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> 7276
> L.Will@Willpowerinfo.co.uk                
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> ---------------- <URL:http://www.willpowerinfo.co.uk/>  
> -----------------
>
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 15 January 2008 13:51:38 UTC