Showing papers by "Frederico T. Fonseca published in 2005"

Toward an alternative notion of information systems ontologies: Information engineering as a hermeneutic enterprise

Abstract: In this paper we discuss the construction of information systems ontologies. We summarize and discuss Barry Smith’s review of the field in the pape r “Ontology”. In that essay Smith concludes with a plea for ontologies that reflect the categories of current scientific theories because they represent our best knowledge of the world. In this context, we develop an argument for a hermeneutic approach to ontologies ‐ one compatible with the orientation introduced into information science by Winograd and Flores and that was later developed by many others. In order to do this, we argue that the literature in the philo sophy and history of science supports a hermeneutic interpretation of the nature and growth of sci ence. This, given Smith’s argument, shows the relevance of hermeneutics to the creation o f information system ontologies. The problems associated with understanding and creating information systems ontologies can be addressed fruitfully only if one begins by acknowledging that databases are mechanisms for communication involving judgments and interpretations by inte lligent and knowledgeable users. The main contributions of this paper are our conclusions that (1) information system ontologies should take into consideration a perspective of the philo sophy and history of science and that (2) hermeneutics as construed by Gadamer constitutes a place from which we can understand the tasks of information ontologists and database users.

Ontology-Driven description of spatial data for their semantic processing

Abstract: We use ontologies in this paper to search for alternative representations of geographic objects thus providing a description of these objects in cartographic vector maps. We define ontologies based on two types of concepts (“terminal” and “non-terminal”) and two kinds of relations (“has” and “is-a”). These are the basic elements used to describe a map. We also present a case study in which an ontology for topographic maps is created. Our approach is oriented towards solving heterogeneity and interoperability issues in GIS.

Toward an alternative notion of information systems ontologies: Information engineering as a hermeneutic enterprise: Research Articles

Abstract: In this paper we discuss the construction of information systems ontologies. We summarize and discuss Barry Smith's review (2003a) of the field in the paper, “Ontology.” In that essay Smith concludes with a plea for ontologies that reflect the categories of current scientific theories because they represent our best knowledge of the world. In this context, we develop an argument for a hermeneutic approach to ontologies—one compatible with the orientation introduced into information science by Winograd and Flores (1986) and later developed by many others. To do this, we argue that the literature in the philosophy and history of science supports a hermeneutic interpretation of the nature and growth of science. This, given Smith's argument, shows the relevance of hermeneutics to the creation of information system ontologies. The problems associated with understanding and creating information systems ontologies are addressed fruitfully only if one begins by acknowledging that databases are mechanisms for communication involving judgments and interpretations by intelligent and knowledgeable users. The main contributions of this paper are our conclusions that (a) information system ontologies should take into consideration a perspective of the philosophy and history of science, and (b) hermeneutics as construed by Gadamer (1975, 1979) constitutes a place from which we can understand the tasks of information ontologists and database users. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Play as the way out of the newspeak-tower of babel dilemma in data modeling

Abstract: A data modeler, when faced with different interpretations of a given reality within an organization, may opt to create a standard model for the whole company (the Newspeak solution). On the other hand, allowing multiple, and sometimes incompatible, models to coexist may lead to what some researchers call the Tower of Babel problem. The clash between these two possibilities creates a fundamental design problem for IS. We argue that the concept of play in Gadamer can be seen as the “place” where differences and similarities among various perspectives are expressed and discussed. Based on Gadamer’s Truth and Method (1960) and on Heidegger’s Being and Time (1962), we review the concepts of horizon, fusion of horizons, play, application, and the hermeneutic circle, and show some applications to information systems. Following Hirschheim et al. (1995), who consider that “the role of a data models should be seen in a similar light as the role of a theory for a scientific community,” we turn to the debate between objectivism and relativism in philosophy of science in order to discover a way of negotiating the clash between the Newspeak and Tower of Babel possibilities in Information Systems. We introduce an historical example of hermeneutical play—the Popper/Kuhn debate in the philosophy of science—which directly addresses the problems and possibilities associated with communication among people holding incommensurable perspectives. We show how this situation informed their hermeneutic play in the philosophy of science. Finally, we argue that a similar play, in conjunction with the dimension of application, is the way beyond the either/or of the Tower of Babel versus Newspeak dilemma.

GeoSpatial Semantics: First International Conference, GeoS 2005, Mexico City, Mexico, November 29-30, 2005, Proceedings

Abstract: Models and Languages for Geo-Ontologies.- Two Types of Hierarchies in Geospatial Ontologies.- Semantic Annotation of Maps Through Knowledge Provenance.- Architecture for a Grounded Ontology of Geographic Information.- Alignment and Integration of Geo-Ontologies.- Towards Effective Geographic Ontology Matching.- An Algorithm for Merging Geographic Datasets Based on the Spatial Distributions of Their Values.- Structure-Based Methods to Enhance Geospatial Ontology Alignment.- Ontology-Based Spatial Information Retrieval.- Geographic Information Retrieval by Topological, Geographical, and Conceptual Matching.- A Rule-Based Description Framework for the Composition of Geographic Information Services.- Algorithm, Implementation and Application of the SIM-DL Similarity Server.- Formal Representation for GeoSpatial Data.- A Location and Action-Based Model for Route Descriptions.- Spatio-temporal Conceptual Schema Development for Wide-Area Sensor Networks.- Modeling Spatio-temporal Network Computations: A Summary of Results.- Integration of Semantics into Spatial Query Processing.- Building Geospatial Ontologies from Geographical Databases.- Applying Spatial Reasoning to Topographical Data with a Grounded Geographical Ontology.- Supporting Complex Thematic, Spatial and Temporal Queries over Semantic Web Data.- Short Papers.- Semantic Similarity Applied to Generalization of Geospatial Data.- Towards Semantics for Map Styles.- DAGIS: A Geospatial Semantic Web Services Discovery and Selection Framework.- The Gravity Data Ontology: Laying the Foundation for Workflow-Driven Ontologies.