An ontology is a "cousin" of a thesaurus: a controlled vocabulary, enriched with a rich network of terms and relationships. Like a thesaurus, ontologies are useful for such implementations as document classification and data indexing. Marjorie M.K. Hlava, President and founder of Access Innovations, Inc. with Bob Kasenchak, a project manager of this company, outline a new feature of Data Harmony in development: Ontology Master, a module designed specifically to build and manage ontological networks.

1. Bob Kasenchak
Production Coordinator
DHUG 2014

2. WHAT IS AN ONTOLOGY?
Cousin of a thesaurus
Represents detailed relationships between concepts
More specific broader/narrower relationships
More specific associative relationships
Ontology Languages and Standards include:
Common Logic (ISO 24707)
OWL (Web Ontology Language) – Markup
language
Various RDF (Resource Description Framework)
family of Markup languages
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

3. ONTOLOGIES VS THESAURI
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.
Thesaurus
Broader Terms
Narrower Terms
Related Terms
Ontology
Is a(n) example of…
Is a part of..
Has part
Has member
Uses…
Eats…
Causes…
Both have synonyms (Non-Preferred Terms)
Ontology

4. SAMPLE RELATIONSHIPS
Cancer [IS A class of] Disease (BT)
Cancer [has subclass] Skin Cancer (NT)
Skin Cancer [IS A Subclass of] Cancer (BT)
Skin Cancer [IS CAUSED BY] UV Rays (RT)
UV Rays [CAUSES] Skin Cancer (RT)
Chemotherapy [TREATS] Skin Cancer (RT)
 All of these relationships are customized and defined
 for each ontology according to a simple framework
 All relationships are reciprocal
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

5. HOW ONTOLOGIES ARE USED
Much in the same way as thesauri, Ontologies are
powerful tools for semantic enrichment, document
classification, search/retrieval enhancement, etc.
The basic process of indexing is the same; it’s the
relationships between the concepts (terms) that are
different
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

6. ONTOLOGY OR THESAURUS?
For many cases, a thesaurus is perfect for
Organizing concepts in a domain
Classifying documents
Auto-suggesting search terms
…and most other publishing needs
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

7. ONTOLOGY OR THESAURUS?
Ontologies are useful for classifying and relating
domains in which defining more specific
relationships are useful to the end user, for
example:
Biology (diseases, disease vectors, organisms)
Manufacturing (suppliers, parts, products)
Materials science (materials, techniques, tests)
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

8. ONTOLOGICAL EXAMPLE
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

9. ONTOLOGIES SOUND COOL!
Do I need one?
Maybe!
Maybe not!
What’s the downside?
Labor-intensive and time-consuming to build
Require intensive expert review
Therefore, more expensive and longer
projects
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

10. THEN WHY ARE YOU TELLING US ABOUT
ONTOLOGIES IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

11. ONTOLOGY MASTER
Access Innovations is developing an ontology
construction and management application to
meet demand in the marketplace: Ontology
Master
Sister product of Thesaurus Master
Based on the same framework
Same easy-to-use interface
Works seamlessly with MAI
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

12. THESAURUS MASTER: ADMIN MODULE
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13. ONTOLOGY MASTER: ADMIN MODULE
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14. ONTOLOGY MASTER: TERM RECORD
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15. ONTOLOGY MASTER: ONTOLOGY VIEW?
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prefuse.org

16. ONTOLOGY MASTER: ONTOLOGY VIEW?
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poolparty.biz

17. ONTOLOGY MASTER: ONTOLOGY VIEW?
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prefuse.org

18. ONTOLOGY MASTER: ONTOLOGY VIEW?
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prefuse.org

19. ONTOLOGY MASTER
Currently in development
Projected release in 2014
We are happy to talk to you about your interest in
ontologies, Ontology Master, and your needs
Copyright 2014 Access Innovations, Inc.

20. Bob Kasenchak
Project Coordinator
November 20, 2013
Thank You – Any Questions?