Frontiers of Knowlegde Representation

From epistemology to technological implementation

2023-06-14T14:48:17-03:00

With the knowledge that is found in a concrete reality, representations of knowledge are developed in order to make them adequate to the context and purposes in which they are allocated. The modeling of knowledge domains starts precisely from the understanding of this reality, through abstraction, and determines how the concepts will relate in a logical structure, among themselves and with the specific domain. The present work proposes a look at the epistemological characterization of domain modeling until technological materialization, with the objective of presenting semantic enrichment as an element that contributes to the modeling process of a knowledge domain. The research has a bibliographic and exploratory bias and presents semantic enrichment techniques through links and through the use of inferences, which come from the characterization of axioms and definition of inference rules that can expand the possibilities of domain formalization. The considerations demonstrate that the domain modeling process can bring fruitful contributions with the use of the presented techniques, and that these effectively collaborate to specify elements that individualize and characterize a domain of knowledge.

Modeling Domains

2023-05-16T22:03:02-03:00

The evolution of information technologies brings challenges to automatic retrieval. Search engines struggle to make sense of human language, compromising recall and precision rates. There is a growing demand for information processing that meets requirements such as standardization and interoperability. The role of information professionals assumes an interdisciplinary and multifaceted perspective, promoting the necessary skills for knowledge representation aimed at building semantic vocabularies that are unambiguous and readable by humans and machines. In domain modeling, representation is achieved through a set of terms and relationships that translate the key concepts of "things" in this domain. Various representation tools with different degrees of formality and complexity are used in domain representation, employing techniques and tools in the modeling process. Analyzing a knowledge domain requires different levels and perspectives of understanding, demanding diverse information competencies from the modeler in constructing representation artifacts. Additionally, knowledge acquisition techniques are essential for a deep understanding of the domain. The article takes a conceptual approach, providing a didactic explanation of the necessary concepts and discussing the contributions of information organization and representation fields, focusing on domain modeling to identify the required techniques, methodologies, technologies, and representation tools for this activity. As contributions, a set of essential competencies and skills are presented for information professionals to model domains. This approach aims to address technical gaps not covered in traditional training for these professionals, providing a better understanding of the technical aspects related to domain modeling and expanding their scope of practice.

Organization and representation of information and knowledge in informational contexts

2023-04-26T22:22:07-03:00

Abstract: currently, there is interest from scientific and practical communities that deal with digital technologies and at the same time with areas belonging to the Human, Social and Applied Social Sciences in reusing information sources on the web and treating their digital cultural objects as preponderant elements in the generation of value in their circulations and social reuse. In this opportunity, the article at presenting a proposal for a theoretical-conceptual model capable of integrating contributions from Information Science, Data Science and Computer Science and, therefore, contribute to the representation of information entities with quality for the production of networked cultural knowledge. This is a theoretical and qualitative research, of an exploratory and descriptive nature, using bibliographical research in specialized databases in the fields cited above as a technique, together with the use of analytical categories derived from the method of Content Analysis in helping to inferences and interpretations about the collected data. The representation artifacts now evidenced in the proposed theoretical-conceptual model can be considered syntheses of a Knowledge Organization System that seeks, primarily, the organization of information resources, producing relationships; access points; sorting for items in collections; generic and specific facets for navigation in web systems, and interoperable digital cultural objects in a network. The information professional, therefore, has as a preponderant role the development of specific terminologies for the structuring of information with quality, following semantic models for the treatment of information, aiming at intelligent, innovative and valuable information services to the field of culture and the field of the Digital Humanities.

Ontological and epistemological assumptions

2023-03-31T18:36:34-03:00

Foundation ontologies provide principles and theories aligned with a metamodel that can be used coherently in the construction of Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS) of specific domains. Conceptual domain models developed in accordance with a foundation ontology are called ontological models and should reflect in their scope and intention what was raised through the analysis of that domain, which reflects a point of view. Based on the recognition of the underlying epistemological and ontological perspectives, the points of view that are adopted to observe the domain are established, as well as principles and methods for its modeling and representation, in order to make its understanding and reuse clearer. How exactly the domain will be represented, the languages to be adopted, the formalisms and methodologies, all this depends to some extent on the objective of the ontology. In any case, the epistemological and ontological assumptions that influence the representation of the domain, as well as the principles adopted for its modeling, are often not clearly explained, leading to misunderstandings of the ontological commitment underlying these models. In this scenario, we aim to discuss aspects that are at the level of metamodels, to situate their importance, and how they impact conceptual models. As a result, a systematic, non-exhaustive framework of such aspects is presented, with examples of how they can affect existing KOS understanding.

Strategic information management

2023-03-22T16:04:44-03:00

This is a work that presents the results of qualitative research that aimed to propose a model of strategic information management to be used by organizations. The article reports the results of a literature review regarding models and criteria for the strategic information management, having as an unfolding the proposition of its own model. A bibliographic research was carried out to analyze the scientific production on criteria and models used for strategic information management and, after researching articles and other publications, the results indicated the existence of 50 models and 40 most frequently cited criteria. This survey served as the basis for proposing a strategic information management model composed of 8 stages, namely: 1) Identification of needs; 2) Collection; 3) Treatment and analysis; 4) Organization; 5) Storage; 6) Distribution; 7) Use and; 8) Assessment. The model proposed in this study is not defined as something definitive, untouchable. It is a guide, an orientation for those who seek to manage information strategically. The main lesson to be learned is that organizations, regardless of the sector or regime to which they are inserted, can no longer ignore the importance of the process of managing their information.

Cognitive aspects in the representation of information on the web

2023-03-20T16:11:59-03:00

Cognitive Science studies what knowledge is and how it can be represented and manipulated in its most diverse forms. The process of how the mind processes information is called Cognition and cognitive processes are the procedures we use to develop our intellectual and emotional capacities, add new knowledge and make conscious decisions from that knowledge. The internet provides access to an unrivaled volume of information at time costs that are orders of magnitude less than those required for traditional print media. From this perspective, the World Wide Web (WWW), created by Berners-Lee in 1989, is the most recent addition to a line of information processing and technologies that have a synergistic relationship with human intelligence. Therefore, the objective of this study is to verify in which areas of the Web cognition plays a fundamental role in the representation of information, and how this manifests itself. This research is characterized as exploratory and descriptive, in which a bibliographic survey was carried out to identify cognition on the web and possible relationships with other areas. It was identified that one of the main shortcomings of the Semantic Web is its lack of cognitive plausibility. The notion of representation occupies a central place in Cognitive Sciences and human communication increasingly depends on the intermediation of digital interfaces. In this way, the importance of cognition for the Web is related to seven areas of study that consider the cognitive aspects for the representation of information in the Semantic Web, namely: information processing, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, computation cognitive, inspired web, design models and information visualization. Note that the areas are related, as they support challenges and techniques from the area of Computing and Cognitive Sciences, as they have the common goal of understanding the mind as an information processing device.

Foundations of domain modeling

2023-03-20T08:50:32-03:00

It briefly describes the theoretical and conceptual bases of domain modeling and the objectives of this thematic issue.

Domain modeling in conceptual maps

2023-03-13T09:10:36-03:00

Dahlberg made several contributions to the field of knowledge organization, notably developing Concept Analytic Theory and establishing a set of categories that group and structure the representative concepts of a given domain. In this study, we highlight the concept of discourse community for domain analysis and present the theoretical foundations and principles of Concept Analytic Theory and Dahlberg's categories for the construction of concept map-like knowledge organization systems. As a product of the application of these principles, we have elaborated a map for the thematic area of homeopathic knowledge, in particular the representation of the use of high dilutions in formulations used in agriculture. The methodology is characterized as exploratory, descriptive and applied, with a qualitative approach, using a methodological proposal of concept map construction based on the proposals of Gonçalves (2010), Moraes (2014) and Moresi et al. (2019), supported by terminographic procedures. As a result, it is expected to provide subsidies for the modeling of domains in the form of concept maps, strengthening the use of this artifact in the elucidation of concepts and their relationships in different contexts.

Scientific domains representation and the relevance of metamodels:

2023-03-08T17:44:49-03:00

This research aims at demonstrating Systematifier as a metamodel to guide the creation of conceptual models in scientific domains. It underlines the relevance of having consistent metamodels to provide feasible integration and interoperability of information systems. It is an exploratory and descriptive research in an argumentative language so to evince the benefits of adopting such a model as the Systematifier that, in addition to highlighting an ontological

commitment regarding domain representation, it makes the representation of multiintertransdisciplinary aspects also possible, something essential in today’s scientific domains. In order to represent and retrieve information, models are developed from concepts formed about a given reality that one seeks to represent. The metamodel consists of a set of tenets that express rules and general directives for the creation of models with such a degree of generalization that it becomes independent of the specificities of any knowledge domain. Adopting a metamodel in the field of informational studies the information professional pursues consistent conceptual structures so as to reach interoperability and integration of different conceptual models. The german scientist Ingetraut Dahlberg conceived the Systematifier and applied it as a base to structure the Information Coding Classification (ICC), a classificatory model that encompasses the whole scientific knowledge. Although she does not name Systematifier as a metamodel its theoretical principles have properties that it may be considered as such.

Editorial - Knowledge Management thematic dossier

2023-03-04T17:38:00-03:00

It is with great pleasure that I write this Editorial, after all it is a new issue of the thematic series “Knowledge Management (KM) – structures, models and tools”. This topic, extremely relevant to the area of GC, had many submissions, articles of excellent quality, which made it necessary to create a new selection of relevant articles, no less important than those already published in the previous issue.