Showing papers in "Knowledge Organization in 2008"

What is Knowledge Organization (KO)

Abstract: Knowledge Organization (KO) is about activities such as document description, indexing and classification performed in libraries, databases, archives etc. These activities are done by librarians, archivists, subject specialists as well as by computer algorithms. KO as a field of study is concerned with the nature and quality of such knowledge organizing processes (KOP) as well as the knowledge organizing systems (KOS) used to organize documents, document representations and concepts. There exist different historical and theoretical approaches to and theories about KO, which are related to different views of knowledge, cognition, language, and social organization. Each of these approaches tends to answer the question: "What is knowledge organization?" differently. LIS professionals have often concentrated on applying new technology and standards, and may not have seen their work as involving interpretation and analysis of meaning. That is why library classification has been criticized for a lack of substantive intellectual content. Traditional human-based activities are increasingly challenged by computer-based retrieval techniques. It is appropriate to investigate the relative contributions of different approaches; the current challenges make it imperative to reconsider this understanding. This paper offers an understanding of KO based on an explicit theory of knowledge.

Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS)

Abstract: Knowledge organization systems (KOS) can be described based on their structures (from flat to multidimensional) and main functions. The latter include eliminating ambiguity, controlling synonyms or equivalents, establishing explicit semantic relationships such as hierarchical and associative relationships, and presenting both relationships and properties of concepts in the knowledge models. Examples of KOS include lists, authority files, gazetteers, synonym rings, taxonomies and classification schemes, thesauri, and ontologies. These systems model the underlying semantic structure of a domain and provide semantics, navigation, and translation through labels, definitions, typing, relationships, and properties for concepts. The term knowledge organization systems (KOS) is intended to encompass all types of schemes for organizing information and promoting knowledge management, such as classification schemes, gazetteers, lexical databases, taxonomies, thesauri, and ontologies (Hodge 2000). These systems model the underlying semantic structure of a domain and provide semantics, navigation, and translation through labels, definitions, typing, relationships, and properties for concepts (Hill et al. 2002, Koch and Tudhope 2004). Embodied as (Web) services, they facilitate resource discovery and retrieval by acting as semantic road maps, thereby making possible a common orientation for indexers and future users, either human or machine (Koch and Tudhope 2003, 2004).

Epistemology, Theory, and Methodology in Knowledge Organization: Toward a Classification, Metatheory, and Research Framework

Abstract: This paper proposes a preliminary classification of knowledge organization research, divided among epistemology, theory, and methodology plus three spheres of research: design, study, and critique. This work is situated in a metatheoretical framework, drawn from sociological thought. Example works are presented along with preliminary classification. The classification is then briefly described as a comparison tool which can be used to demonstrate overlap and divergence in cognate discourses of knowledge organization (such as ontology engineering).

Ten Long-Term Research Questions in Knowledge Organization

Abstract: Research can benefit by periodical consideration of its status in a long-term perspective. In knowledge organization (KO), a number of basic questions remain to be addressed in the 21st cen- tury. Ten of them are identified and synthetically discussed: (1) Can KO principles be extended to a broader scope, including hypertexts, multimedia, museum objects, and monuments? (2) Can the two basic approaches, ontological and epistemological, be reconciled? (3) Can any ontological foundation of KO be identified? (4) Should disciplines continue to be the structural base of KO? (5) How can viewpoint warrant be respected? (6) How can KO be adapted to local collection needs? (7) How can KO deal with changes in knowledge? (8) How can KO systems represent all the dimensions listed above? (9) How can software and formats be improved to better serve these needs? (10) Who should do KO: information professionals, authors or readers?

Some Current Research Questions in the Field of Knowledge Organization

Abstract: The research dynamics of knowledge organization (KO) show a tendency towards the reformulation of previous questions in the new technology-driven and interdisciplinary context of KO. Current research questions in KO are dominated by a noteworthy interest in quality, related not only to the informational contents recorded in knowledge organization systems (KOS) but also to technical and technological considerations. The integration of knowledge would seem to constitute a quality indicator present in most proposals, and it also responds to the need for KOS with frameworks comprehensible for all user sectors, respecting the diversity of users. The flip side of knowledge integration entails the conjugation of technical, formal and technological aspects, well represented by the word interoperability, or the search for a way to simplify and harmonize the great variety of structures and formats that coexist in the Internet. This paper addresses the aforementioned major research concerns expressed in the last decade of KO literature. It is structured into two broad sections: 1) A demand for quality, touching on research questions related to multilingualism, cross-culturalism, social groups, minorities and ethics, as well as the integration of structures, forms and formats and the respective proposals by scholars; and 2) A demand for managing emergent knowledge in KOS, with a discussion of how to represent and organize work-oriented and organizational knowledge domains, where multidimensional knowledge (multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinarity) is addressed together with the responses put forth by various researchers.

Actors, Domains, and Constraints in the Design and Construction of Controlled Vocabularies

Abstract: Classification schemes, thesauri, taxonomies, and other controlled vocabularies play important roles in the or-ganization and retrieval of information in many different environments. While the design and construction of controlled vo-cabularies have been prescribed at the technical level in great detail over the past decades, the methodological level has been somewhat neglected. However, classification research has in recent years focused on developing approaches to the analysis of users, domains, and activities that could produce requirements for the design of controlled vocabularies. Researchers have of-ten argued that the design, construction, and use of controlled vocabularies need to be based on analyses and understandings of the contexts in which these controlled vocabularies function. While one would assume that the growing body of research on human information behavior might help guide the development of controlled vocabularies shed light on these contexts, unfor-tunately, much of the research in this area is descriptive in nature and of little use for systems design. This paper discusses these trends and outlines a holistic approach that demonstrates how the design of controlled vocabularies can be informed by inves-tigations of people’s interactions with information. This approach is based on the Cognitive Work Analysis framework and outlines several dimensions of human-information interactions. Application of this approach will result is a comprehensive un-derstanding of the contexts in which the controlled vocabulary will function and which can be used for the development of for the development of controlled vocabularies.

Minoritization vs. Universalization: Lesbianism and Male Homosexuality in LCSH and LCC

Abstract: In 1990 Ellen Greenblatt published a study of gayand lesbian-related terms in the Library of Congress Subject Headings. No such study has been published since, nor has such a study been conducted on the Library of Congress Classification system. This article returns to Greenblatt’s LCSH study to see what progress has been made in the last two decades, then uses her study as a template to examine gayand lesbian-related terminology in LCC. Greenblatt’s objections to then-current headings are examples of a tension defined in the research of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and later Grant Campbell: between a “universalizing view,” which values unmarked representation of all parts of the population as a whole, and a “minoritizing view” like Greenblatt’s, which values visibility for the minority “at any cost.” Catalogers and classificationists should be aware of this tension and respectful of current preferred usage of the minority group being represented.

Relationships in Knowledge Organization

Abstract: Relationships that interconnect entity classes of import to knowledge organization (knowledge, documents, concepts, beings, information needs, language) include both non-subject bibliographic relationships (document-to-document relationships, responsibility relationships) and conceptual content relationships (subject relationships, relevance relationships). While the MARC format allows the recording of most bibliographic relationships, many of them are not expressed systematically. Conceptual content relationships include, in turn, interconcept and intraconcept relationships. The expression of interconcept relationships is covered by standard thesaural relationships, which typically do not distinguish fully between the underlying lexical relationship types. The full expression of complex intraconcept relationships includes indication of the basic nature of the relationship (including a set of semantic roles), the set of entities that participate in the relationship, and a mapping between participants and semantic roles. Knowledge organization schemes seldom express these relationships fully.

Semantic Retail : Towards a Cross-Context Information Architecture

Abstract: Information architecture (IA) is an emerging discipline within the knowledge organization field that merges concepts and approaches from several different disciplines (librarianship and information

Developing Corporate Taxonomies for Knowledge Auditability : A Framework for Good Practices

Abstract: The organisation of knowledge for exploitation and re-use in the modern enterprise is often a most perplexing challenge. The entire knowledge management life-cycle (for example - create, capture, organize, store, search, and transfer) is impacted by the organisation of intellectual capital into a corporate taxonomy or at the least a knowledge map (often incorrectly used interchangeably). Determining the extent to which such an objective is achieved is the focus of what is known as a knowledge audit. In this practice-oriented article, the authors review the fundamentals of creating a taxonomy, the use of meta-data in a necessary process known as classification and the role of expertise locators where the knowledge is not explicit but resides within experts in the form of tacit knowledge. The authors conclude with a framework for developing a corporate taxonomy and how such a project may be executed. The conceptual contribution of this article is the postulation that corporate taxonomies that are designed to facilitate knowledge audits lead to greater organizational impact.

The impact of geographic location on the development of a specialty field: A case study of Sloan Digital Sky Survey in Astronomy

Abstract: We analyze the scientific discourse of researchers in a specialty field in Astronomy by examining the influence that geographic location may have on the development of this field Using as a case study the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) pro- ject, we analyzed texts from bibliographic records along three geographic axes: US-only publications, non-US publications and international collaboration Each geographic region reflected authors affiliated to research institutions in that region Interna- tional collaboration refers to papers published by both US-based and non-US based institutions Through clustering of domain terms used in titles and abstracts fields of the bibliographic records, we were able to automatically identify the topology of to- pics peculiar to each geographic region and identify the research topics common to the three geographic zones The results showed that US-only and non-US research in SDSS shared more commonalities with international collaboration than with one another, thus indicating that the former two focused on rather distinct topics

The Notion and Characters of Knowledge Networks

Abstract: This paper first focuses on the review of the literature of knowledge networks based on a recent analysis. Then we analyze the connotation and extension of the notion of knowledge network put forward by different field researchers, and we bring forward its notion alongside different aspects of information science. Finally, we provide further discussion and analysis about the character of knowledge networks.