RE: [HCLS] Bridging Ontology...An Automated Approach?

We are using mediation technology within the BIRN project as well.  It has many
ways in which it can solve some of the problems we're discussing.

 

My fear is every new repository requires an new mapping/registration to the
mediator and/or shared ontology.  This can be a very fragile system over time,
and - as you point out, Peter, tacit assumptions in the source data models (and
their use of semantics) - which of course can also change - may greatly limit
the depth and breadth with which queries can be mapped to all the data sources.

 

Semantic web approaches appear to circumvent some of the technical frailties,
though I don't think they can necessarily overcome the requirement for shared
foundational and generic ontology layers.

 

[VK] It will be great if you could give some use cases on how Semantic web
approaches can help circumvent the fragility of the system, requiring mappings
and registrations...

 

 

On Aug 22, 2006, at 7:52 AM, Mork, Peter D.S. wrote:





 

		Creating explicit connections between all similar and/or
identical

	entries

		in two schemas is an arduous task that is impractical to do

manually.

	 

	[VK] Will mapping each of these schemas to an ontology and then using

the

	ontology to mediate further queries help alleviate the problem?

	 

	---Vipul

	 

	 

 

This is the approach adopted by caBIG.  Individual data models (or

schemata) are related to a common ontology.  By itself, this doesn't

allow one to rewrite queries (because of tacit assumptions present in

the respective data models?), but the hope is that development of

query-mediators will be facilitated by the existence of a loose

mapping.

 

Peter

 

 

Bill Bug

Senior Research Analyst/Ontological Engineer

 

Laboratory for Bioimaging  & Anatomical Informatics

www.neuroterrain.org

Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy

Drexel University College of Medicine

2900 Queen Lane

Philadelphia, PA    19129

215 991 8430 (ph)

610 457 0443 (mobile)

215 843 9367 (fax)

 

 

Please Note: I now have a new email - William.Bug@DrexelMed.edu

 

 





 



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