RE: [ALL,VM] Proposed VM note outline

Regarding section 2 below, here is some material that may be useful as
input:

Relationships between Metamodels, Ontologies, Thesauri, Taxonomies and
Controlled Vocabularies. A set of definitions is provided by Woody
Pidcock. Click or scroll to comments for a response with additional
material highlighting the similarities and differences by Mike Uschold.
http://www.metamodel.com/article.php?story=20030115211223271  or 
http://www.metamodel.com/article.php?story=20030115211223271&mode=print 

Mike 


-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Baker [mailto:thomas.baker@izb.fraunhofer.de] 
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 7:33 AM
To: SW Best Practices
Subject: [ALL,VM] Proposed VM note outline


Dear all,

I am proposing an outline for the Vocabulary Management note
(see below).  As I first step, I am posting this outline to the
list asking each member of the group to answer six questions
about the planned scope and objectives (see my next posting).

This shorter version will be helpful as a basis for discussion
on the conference call today.

Tom

----

SWBPD "Vocabulary Management" 
Draft, 2004-09-02

NAME          
    Vocabulary Management - Scoping Draft - Proposed outline

MEMBERS
    Tom Baker (Fraunhofer Society)
    Libby Miller (University of Bristol)
    Natasha Noy (Stanford University)
    Dan Brickley (W3C)
    Alistair Miles (CCL)
    Alan Rector (University of Manchester)
    James Hendler (University of Maryland)
    Aldo Gangemi (CNR)
    Bernard Vatant (Mondeca)
    Ralph Swick (W3C)

Proposed outline

    Section 1. Terminology

       I assume that we would need to agree -- at least for
       the purposes of the VM note -- on the meaning of some
       basic terms.  Section 1, then, would define a list of a
       dozen or so basic terms such as "term" and "vocabulary".

    Section 2. Vocabularies in the Semantic Web

       I assume we need to characterize what it is we are
       talking about in terms of standard buzzwords that
       people will have heard, such as Metadata Element Sets,
       Controlled Vocabularies, Taxonomies, and Ontologies.
       I also assume we should not neglect to articulate
       some really basic assumptions about the Semantic Web,
       such as data merging and repurposing.

    Section 3. Principles of Good Practice

       I assume we will be able to agree on some really basic
       principles, such as "Identify Terms with URIs (or
       URIrefs)" or "Articulate any policies or assumptions
       underlying the assignment of URIs".  Beyond that, we
       should see how far we can go.  Personally, I believe
       that if we could articulate half a dozen or so simple
       principles and elaborate on each principle in two or
       three paragraphs, with pointers to actual practice,
       these principles could form the core contribution of
       the VM note.

    Section 4. Evolving issues

       On many issues we will not be able to agree, whether
       because the issues are controversial (e.g., the idea of
       "ownership" of a namespace which surfaced on this list
       in response to an earlier draft) or because they are
       the object of ongoing discussion and experimentation.
       We should try to distill these issues down to a
       "manageable" number -- a dozen or so -- and discuss
       each issue in one or two paragraphs which describe
       the issue and characterize the main viewpoints, areas
       of development, or controversies, with pointers to
       the literature.  In my opinion, a "manageable" number
       is important not just to aid the reader, but also to
       allow us to divide ownership of the issues among Task
       Force members.


-- 
Dr. Thomas Baker                        Thomas.Baker@izb.fraunhofer.de
Institutszentrum Schloss Birlinghoven         mobile +49-160-9664-2129
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft                          work +49-30-8109-9027
53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany                    fax +49-2241-144-2352
Personal email: thbaker79@alumni.amherst.edu

Received on Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:03:37 UTC