A Framework for Understanding and Classifying Ontology Applications

Abstract

In this paper, we draw attention to common goals and supporting technologies of several relatively distinct communities to facilitate closer cooperation and faster progress. The common thread is the need for sharing the meaning of terms in a given domain, which is a central role of ontologies. The different communities include ontology research groups, software developers and standards organizations. Using a broad definition of "ontology", we show that much of the work being done by those communities may be viewed as practical applications of ontologies. To achieve this, we present a framework for understanding and classifying ontology applications. We identify three main categories of ontology applications: 1) neutral authoring, 2) common access to information, and 3) indexing for search. In each category, we identify specific ontology application scenarios. For each, we indicate their intended purpose, the role of the ontology, the supporting technologies and who the principal actors are and what they do. We illuminate the similarities and differences between scenarios.