Ontologies, Taxonomies and Thesauri in Systems Science and Systematics

Chandos Information Professional Series

Ontologies, Taxonomies and Thesauri in Systems Science and Systematics

Emilia Currás

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

List of figures

Foreword

Preface

Prologue

About the author

Chapter 1: From classifications to ontologies

Knowledge

A new concept of knowledge

Knowledge and information

Knowledge organisation

Knowledge organisation and representation

Cognitive sciences

Talent management

Learning systematisation

Historical evolution

From classification to knowledge organisation

Why ontologies exist

Ontologies

The structure of ontologies

Summary

Topics for discussion

Chapter 2: Taxonomies and thesauri

From ordering to taxonomy

The origins of taxonomy

Hierarchical and horizontal order

Correlation with classifications

Taxonomy in computer science

Computing taxonomy

Definitions

Virtual taxonomy, cybernetic taxonomy

Taxonomy in Information Science

Similarities between taxonomies and thesauri

Differences between taxonomies and thesauri

Topics for discussion

Chapter 3: Thesauri

Terminology in classification systems

Terminological languages

Thesauri

Thesauri definitions

Conditions that a thesaurus must fulfil

Historical evolution

Classes of thesauri

Topics for discussion

Chapter 4: Thesauri in (cladist) systematics

Systematics

Systematics as a noun

Definitions and historic evolution over time

Differences between taxonomy and systematics

Systematics in thesaurus construction theory

Classic, numerical and cladist systematics

Classic systematics in information science

Nuniversal hierarchical classifications

Numerical systematics in information science

Thesauri in cladist systematics

Systematics in information technology

Some examples

Topics for discussion

Chapter 5: Thesauri in systems theory

Historical evolution

Approach to systems

Systems theory applied to the construction of thesauri

Components

Classes of system

Peculiarities of these systems

Working methods

Systems theory applied to ontologies and taxonomies

Topics for discussion

Author index

Subject index

Copyright

Chandos Publishing

TBAC Business Centre

Avenue 4

Station Lane

Witney

Oxford OX28 4BN

UK

Tel: + 44 (0) 1993 848726

Email: info@chandospublishing.com

www.chandospublishing.com

Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited

Woodhead Publishing Limited

Abington Hall

Granta Park

Great Abington

Cambridge CB21 6AH

UK

www.woodheadpublishing.com

First published in 2010

ISBN:

978 1 84334 612 8

© E. Currás, 2010

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the Publishers. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior consent of the Publishers. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The Publishers make no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.

The material contained in this publication constitutes general guidelines only and does not represent to be advice on any particular matter. No reader or purchaser should act on the basis of material contained in this publication without first taking professional advice appropriate to their particular circumstances. All screenshots in this publication are the copyright of the website owner(s), unless indicated otherwise.

Typeset by Domex e-Data Pvt. Ltd.

Printed in the UK and USA.

Dedication

In the Unit of Wisdom,

where Philosophy joins Science

and the borders become fuzzy,

we obtain, by the conjunction of Ontologies, Taxonomies

and Systems Science and Systematics,

the order which brings us to a greater angle of abstraction

and compression,

towards the future progress,

always by the path of Information Technology.

E.C.

Translator

Carmen Campuzano

Thanks

Sincere thanks to Marta Requena and Fanny Albarracín

for their help in the preparation of the manuscript.

List of figures

1.1. Concept of knowledge 3

1.2. A new concept of knowledge 6

1.3. Systematisation of learning 16

1.4. About ontology 19

1.5. Differences between ontologies and thesauri 23

1.6. From information to thesauri through the field of computing 26

2.1. Concept of taxonomy 36

2.2. Taxonomy in information and documentation science 38

2.3. Taxonomy in computing 44

2.4. Computing taxonomy 47

2.5. Differences and similarities between taxonomies and thesauri 52

3.1. Classes of terminological languages 64

3.2. Development of the concept of the thesaurus 66

3.3. Classes of thesauri 79

4.1. Concept of systematics 89

4.2. Systematics as classification method 90

4.3. Classic systematics 99

4.4. Numerical systematics 101

4.5. Cladist systematics 103

5.1. Historic evolution of systems science 113

5.2. Classes of systems 116

5.3. Useful causal diagram for the construction of a thesaurus 120

5.4. Useful flow diagram for the construction of a thesaurus 121

Foreword

To those who work outside the boundaries of librarianship, documentation and technical information service provision, the word 'thesaurus’ is most likely to conjure up the name Roget, whose Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases was first published in 1852. This work, which has been published in many editions and languages since the nineteenth century, ingeniously arranges synonyms and near synonyms in clusters under head-words, which themselves are arranged in near and universal classification, the whole supported by an alphabetical index to all the words in the volume.

In its more modern structure, adding more semantic relationships and additional information, it is still used as a tool in information retrieval, but increasingly as a structured vocabulary to support a range of tools from taxonomies to file plans for records management. Hence the thesaurus which came into being in the early 1960s and has been used ever since in a wide range of systems both manual and computerised has not only survived but evolved. A large number of thesauri have been compiled in most every subject imaginable, and are still being compiled today.

The first books and standards on thesaurus construction, written in the 1970s, were addressed to professional information workers, many of whom had at least some understanding of the principles of classification but needed now to understand how to build tools with greater specificity and to effectively use the retrieval power offered by post-coordinate systems. Then came the revolution: distributed systems, full-text searching using a new breed of search engines, culminating in the arrival of the World Wide Web - that gargantuan, anarchic database that is said to double in size every 11 hours. At one time, it seemed that the professional information intermediary was an endangered species, as information providers and software vendors alike fought to persuade anybody with a personal computer that searching was easy. We now know two things. First, today’s ‘knowledge workers’ are drowning in a sea of information; even large corporations have several million items on their intranets, often very poorly organised. The second reality that is observed is that the great majority of people do not know how to carry out effective searches. One study of a billion accesses of the Altavista search site has shown that one in five people failed to enter a term into the search box at all, one in four entered a single term, and one in four entered a two-word phrase. Eighty per cent of those searching for information did not use any Boolean operators in this study.

Given these two facts, it becomes obvious that never before are we in such need of new and better approaches to information retrieval, including a wider range of tools to satisfy the different needs of a huge and disparate audience. One of these is the ‘taxonomy’ which, though it initially became something of a buzzword, has now become a standard tool on many websites, offering easier searching and browsing through systems of connected menus. Unfortunately, the literature describing taxonomy compilation is patchy, though the emerging International Standard 25964: Structured Vocabularies for Information Retrieval covers not only thesauri and taxonomies, but also the vocabulary components of classifications, subject headings lists and ontologies. This book by Professor Curras also addresses thesauri, taxonomies and ontologies, but from a systems-theoretic point of view, and is a welcome addition to a literature which is becoming increasingly important as we move nearer to the practicalities of the semantic web. However we may define taxonomies and ontologies, the logical structuring of concepts (for that is what the thesaurus sets out to achieve) must underpin any vocabulary used for information retrieval, be it applied to single databases or in federated searching.

This edition is therefore very timely and the author, who is knowledgeable in both information organisation and systems theory, is eminently qualified to write such a book.

Alan Gilchrist,     Cura Consortium, September 2009

Preface

After a gap of a few years, I am once again devoting part of my professional activities to the subject of writing thesauri. In this day and age, in which electronic technologies rule the scene and where even the most recalcitrant users have a computer in their offices and homes with programs and applications which allow them to hold the world in their hands, it might seem totally superfluous to want to write yet again on the subject of thesauri. Experience is proving otherwise. Consider the dichotomy that exists between someone who