Interoperability of ontologies using conceptual graph theory

Dan Corbett

pp. 375-387

in: Karl E. Wolff, Heather D. Pfeiffer, Harry Delugach (eds), Conceptual structures at work, Berlin, Springer, 2004

Abstract

One of the main goals in achieving smarter management and retrieval of information for the future is in ensuring interoperability among knowledge bases. The achievement of this ultimate goal in knowledge management requires the development of semantic representations and methods for comparison which will allow a semantic interoperability of knowledge bases. This paper will examine technologies which can be used to implement these goals. We explore current technologies that lie behind developments in subsumption theory, intelligent cooperating agents and ontologies, and explore how these technologies can be applied to the problems facing knowledge management. This paper offers a treatment of the semantics of comparison for the ontologies underlying knowledge bases. Our goal is to match and filter information retrieved from a knowledge base by using an ontology created by the user. This will require defining means to compare, link or merge ontologies. This work is significant in that our formal definition of ontology dispenses with the class/instance boundary, thus saving complexity, while allowing a filtering mechanism for facilitating interoperability.