Beyond ontologies: Toward situated representations of scientific knowledge

: In information systems that support knowledge-discovery applications such as scientific exploration, reliance on highly structured ontologies as data-organization aids can be limiting. With current computational aids to science work, the human knowledge that creates meaning out of analyses is often only recorded when work reaches publication – or worse, left unrecorded altogether – for lack of an ontological model for scientific concepts that can capture knowledge as it is created and used. We argue for an approach to representing scientific concepts computationally that reflects (1) the situated processes of science work, (2) the social construction of knowledge, and (3) the emergence and evolution of understanding over time. In this model, knowledge is the result of collaboration, negotiation, and manipulation by teams of researchers. Capturing the situations in which knowledge is created and used helps these collaborators discover areas of agreement and discord, while allowing...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: IJMMS
• Authors: William Pike, Mark Gahegan
• Keywords: Current Computational Aids, Human Knowledge, IJMMS 2007, Scientific Concepts