CIKM 2008 | Workshop

Description

The emergence of the World Wide Web made massive amounts of data available. Data exists in many scattered electronic data sources (e-sources) over the Web. Even though some of the data is in well-organized data sources, interoperability and integration with data from other sources, semantic coordination and conflict resolution are required for its full exploitation. Semantic Web enabled applications can potentially produce better results for semantic integration, interoperability and search. In particular, ontologies are widely regarded as the best solution to global information integration and semantic interoperability.

A crucial question is whether ontologies can replace information models. But whereas ontologies work quite well as virtual schemata in mediation systems, they may perform poorly as information models and on the user interface level. On the theoretical side, there is a lack of understanding of the effective relation and interplay of ontological and epistemological features in information models and systems. Furthermore there are still open questions concerning good scientific practice in developing ontologies. On the practical side, there is still a lack of good practice of how to integrate existing information systems into ontology driven applications and few experiences at all with creating good new data structures from ontologies directly for interoperation in complex and diverse application environments.

The main objective of the workshop is to bring together researchers in Information Management interested in the relation between ontology and information models, to present results and to discuss theoretical aspects and good practice. Among the issues are:

1. What is the difference and relation between information models and ontologies? Which criteria must ontologies match in order to provide a sound basis for an information system? How to interact and relate the ways of knowing and what can be known with the form of knowledge in information systems? Are there systematic kinds of information elements associated with information management processes that are not of ontological nature? What is the epistemological impact on ontologies?
   
   
2. How should we construct ontologies from information models for semantic interoperability, and create and manage mapping specifications for mediators, data transformation systems, Web service wrappers via ontologies. What are the characteristic cases of heterogeneity and how can they be managed generically. What are the languages and tools for mapping and transformation algorithm generators?
   
   
3. How can we effectively enable domain experts to specify the semantics of their information systems in order to exploit Semantic Web technology? How can we visualize the ontology and mapping information in a user-friendly way?
   
   
4. How can we make effective information models, i.e. database schemata, data entry forms, Web service interfaces, and simplified query interfaces from ontologies? Ontologies can help to objectively describe the loss of information and reasoning capabilities due to necessary simplifications in information structures. What are the problems, mechanisms, and rules in order to preserve semantic interoperability?
   
   
5. How should we utilize ontologies and conceptual modelling for data management, integration and interoperability in Semantic web applications, particularly in e-science, life sciences, e-business and cultural applications? What are architectures and models of good practice? Are there domain-overarching global core ontologies? What are their characteristics?
   
   
6. What is semantics? Are semantics logical formulae? Is ontological commitment a set of formulae or an interpretation function to real world things and phenomena in the user’s mind? What role does ontological commitment play in conceptual modelling and database integration?
   
   Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit theoretical, technical and practical research contributions that directly or indirectly address the issues above. Particularly welcome are e-science, life-sciences, e-business and cultural applications. The workshop foresees a technical discussion on the relation of ontologies, conceptual modelling, and data management/integration for the Semantic Web.
   
   Topics:
   • Ontology and epistemology in information systems
   • Ontologies and conceptual modelling
   • Ontology learning
   • Semantic interoperability
   • Ontology-based schema mapping/matching and integration
   • Ontology mapping tools and languages
   • Ontology mapping and ontology visualization
   • Schema transformation
   • User friendly semantic system integration tools
   • Ontology-based data transformation and data migration tools.
   • Domain specific heterogeneity analysis between data structures and ontologies
   • Ontology-based query mediation
   • Conceptual modelling for the Semantic Web
   • Querying the Semantic Web
   • Ontology-driven application system and Web service design
   • Conceptual and logical models for Web data sources and applications
   • Ontology design and maintenance for conceptual model integration
   • Reverse engineering of ontologies from conceptual models
   • Ontology harmonization and merging: Methods and tools.
   • Core ontologies and global models, applications and limitations
   • Ontology-enabled interoperability in e-science, life sciences, e-business, culture
   • Lessons learnt and experience from large-scale integration projects.
   • Global ontologies and Local as View (LAV) integration methods, problems and practice
   • Architectures and good practice of ontology-based integrated application environments
   • Applications of above topics to e-science, e-business, and life sciences

Original URL

http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/hhan/onisw2008/

http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/hhan/onisw2008/