RE: [semanticweb] how to explain to humans the term ontology

Azamat:
"Ontology" in philosophy and "Ontologies" in computer science is not the
same and was never intended to be the same. The computer scientists
*borrowed* the term from philosophy. So the two are heteronyms, and much
confusion stems from the fact that some people are looking for one
definition for two different things.

See Gruber (1995), section 2:
"An ontology is an explicit specification of a conceptualization. The term
is borrowed from philiosophy, where an Ontology is a systematic account of
Existence. For AI systems, what "exists" is what can be represented."
 
Actually I think the the full section 2 is a great definition of the field.
 
Gruber, T.: Toward principles for the design of ontologies used for
knowledge sharing. Int. J. Human-Computer Studies (1995), Vol. 43, pp.
907-928.
 
Best wishes,
Martin

---------------------------
martin.hepp@deri.org, phone: +43 512 507 6465
http://www.heppnetz.de / http://www.deri.org


-----Original Message-----
From: semanticweb@yahoogroups.com [mailto:semanticweb@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Azamat
Sent: Mittwoch, 11. Jänner 2006 23:25
To: Wojick, David; semanticweb@yahoogroups.com; semantic-web@w3.org
Subject: Re: [semanticweb] how to explain to humans the term ontology

''Ontology is a field of computer science which is primarily occupied with
methods and tools for structuring data processed by computer applications.''
...''I like this approach Pierre.''

I wonder how this mess can be declared and supported on the public listing,
which involves many readers, even allowing the freedom of speech principle.

It is a common place that [Ontology is an account of reality and realities].
Thus it concerns with [the entity and relation types in the world] at the
first place. Only at the second, it studies how the realities [world things]
relate to the concepts and associations in the mind, to the coded
representations and structures in machines, and to the words and sentences
in natural languages.
That's it. No need to invent the wheel and tax your mind.

Only as a regional ontology, it may be a computing (programming) ontology, a
field of computer science.... Moreover, the computing ontology gives not
only the tools for organizing information (data) but also [the mechanisms of
reasoning over data], like it is correctly proposed by Tim et al. in the
Semantic Web article.

Azamat Abdoullaev
http://www.eis.com.cy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wojick, David" <WojickD@osti.gov>
To: "Pierre Grenon" <pierregrenon@gmail.com>
Cc: <>
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:29 PM
Subject: RE: [semanticweb] how to explain to humans the term ontology


>I like this approach Pierre. It is what I would call the modest end of the
>spectrum, nothing about reading and reasoning. As a journalist I would use
>the modest or the ambitious versions depending on the audience.
>
> My one major concern is that "data" is often thought of as numbers, and
> data processing as number crunching. That is why I talk about words and
> text documents. Do you want to try re-phrasing?
>
> On a smaller scale the use of "template" seems technical and unnecessary.
> Why not just say "applied to raw data, an ontology produces structured
> data." Also, the map legend analogy does not work for me, because I don't
> think of the legend as being applied.
>
> Precise definition and explanation can be fun and is certainly tough. I
> have worked on drafting federal regulations where every word counts and
> vast sums are on the line. Defining "hazardous waste" for example.
>
> Best regards,
>
> David
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pierre Grenon [mailto:pierregrenon@gmail.com]
> Sent: Wed 1/11/2006 11:51 AM
> To: Wojick, David
> Cc: semanticweb@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [semanticweb] how to explain to humans the term ontology
>
> Greetings,
>
> That's a funny, even if tough, exercise. Here's what I'd put without
> shame in a document for non specialists worrying about ontologies in
> information science:
>
> Ontology is a field of computer science which is primarily occupied
> with methods and tools for structuring data processed by computer
> applications. An ontology is like a template (applied to raw data, it
> produces structured data) and can be compared to the the legend of a
> map. Ontologically structured data has an added value which benefits a
> wide range of computer applications such as, for instance,
> classification of products and services, indexing of documents,
> processing of natural language, extraction of inexplicit information.
>
> Cheers,
> Pierre
>
> On 1/5/06, Wojick, David <WojickD@osti.gov> wrote:
>> How about these three sentences?
>>
>>  An ontology is a set of definitions and other important connections
>> between words in a selected group of words. Ontologies are designed to
>> help computers process text documents. The goal is for computers to
>> simulate reading by humans.
>>
>>  (Basically what ontologies are, what they do, and why we care.)
>>
>>  David
>>
>> "David E. Wojick, Ph.D." <WojickD@osti.gov>
>> Senior Consultant
>> Innovations in Scientific Knowledge and Advancement (ISKA)
>> http://www.osti.gov/iska
>> A strategic initiative of the Office of Scientific and Technical
>> Information, US Department of Energy
>>
>> (540) 858-3136
>> 391 Flickertail Lane, Star Tannery, VA 22654 USA
>> http://www.bydesign.com/powervision/resume.html provides my bio and
>> client list
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:   Bernd Mueller [mailto:bernd@smu-mail.de]
>> Sent:   Tue 1/3/2006 4:17 AM
>> To:     semanticweb@yahoogroups.com
>> Cc:
>> Subject:        [semanticweb] how to explain humans the term ontology
>>
>> Hello list,
>>
>> I have workd for a long term on semantic web technologies ... But there
>> is a problem growing more and more.
>>
>> How can I explain the term ontology to people who are not familiar with
>> computer science?
>>
>> Is it not possible or am I too much inside this area?
>>
>> How can I explain the term ontology in three sentences and easy words to
>> a normal person?
>>
>> Greets,
>> Bernd
>>
>>
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Received on Thursday, 12 January 2006 08:22:03 UTC