Ontological foundations in knowledge organization

The theory of integrative levels

applied in citation order

Claudio Gnoli

University of Pavia. Science and Technology Library

Ibersid 2011, Zaragoza

Knowledge organization

is an interdisciplinary domain:

• philosophy• LIS• computer science• linguistics• sociology• …

It’s both abstract and practical

KO theory e.g. levels theory

KO systems (KOS) e.g. CDU

KO representation KR e.g. SKOS

KO applications KM e.g. your digital library

Structure of KO

Relationships between layers

KO theory

KO systems (KOS)

KO representation

KO applications

my focus

KO Systems

What is thereinside a KOS ?

KOS dimensions

phenomena [ontology]

perspectives[epistemology]

carriers[bibliography]

collections [library science]

users [sociology]

Approaches

phenomena ontological

perspectivesepistemological

carriers

collections

users

e.g.Dewey,CDU

e.g.Bliss (partly),ILC

Epistemological approach

knowledge• 1 philosophical• 2 religious• 7 artistic• 9 historical• 5 scientific

• 51 math•53 physics• 57 biology • …

unit: disciplines

subdivisions by phenomena (scattered !)

Ontological approach

knowledge of:• matter• life• mind• society

• under scientific perspective• under religious perspective• …

unit: phenomena

subdivisions by discipline (scattered !)

The León Manifesto[ISKO Spain 2007]

• interdisciplinarity

• requires some new KOS

• based on phenomena

• allowing to shift between

perspectives

• by analytico-synthetic

techniques

Ontological approach

Encourages discovery of interdisciplinary connections:

indigenous people

food taboos infectious diseases

Ontological approachAttempts to reproduce the “order of things”

[EC Richardson]

“To list the wind where it bloweth” [JEL Farradane]

“to serve as a basis of biological generalizations in all sort of comparative studies and to serve as a key to an information storage system. [...] also most convenient for information retrieval”

[E Mayr]

Onto-epistemological

From general, ontological systems

local, epistemological ones can be derived [Wåhlin]

by means of shifting devices (deictics).

Relationships between layers

KO theory

KO systems (KOS)

KO representation

KO applications

An ontological KO theory

Integrative levels

[Ampère; Comte; Lloyd Morgan; Conger; Sellars; Schneirla; Feibleman; Hartmann; Kedrov; Poli; …]

KO systems based on ILs

• “serial classification” [Bhattacharyya & Ranganathan]

• “general index language” [Classification Research Group]

• Broad System of Ordering [Coates et al.]

• Bliss Classification 2nd edition [Mills & Broughton]

• Information Coding Classification [Dahlberg]

• Integrative Levels Classification[Gnoli, Hong, Szostak, Cousson et al.]

Main classes = levels

F

E

D

C

B

A

Integrative Levels

Classification

www.iskoi.org/ilc

version 1 publishedJuly 2011

Levels in phase relationships

science : philosophy

horses : genes : breeding

…which citation order ?

Inversion principle

By default, cite the higher level firstas it is assumed to provide the context for the lower one

[Coates et al.; Mills]

breeding: horses: genes

vo mqUH k

Main theme

However, in some documents,the main theme is not the highest-level phenomenon:

genes: horses: breeding

k mqUH vo

Levels x themes

Revised rule:

cite the main themes first;

among equally focused themes, cite the highest level first

Levels in browsing

…

vm farming

vo breeding (in general)

vo mqUH k breeding: horses: genes

vo mqvo breeding: birds

…

Levels in browsing

…

k genes (in general)

k mU genes: humans

k mqUH vo genes: horses: breeding

k t6 genes: law

…

Conclusions

• Components of KO should be considered in connection

• KO theory can inform KO systems (es.: levels theory)

• Ontological approach offers more general principles

• Features of individual documents (es. main theme) can complement the general principles (onto-epistemology)

…thank you

www.ancestral.com

gnoli@aib.it