Amalgamating Knowledge Bases

Abstract

The integration of knowledge for multiple sources is an importantaspect of automated reasoning systems. When different knowledge basesare used to store knowledge provided by multiple sources, we are facedwith the problem of integrating multiple knowledge bases: Under thesecircumstances, we are also confronted with the prospect ofinconsistency. In this paper we present a uniform theoretical framework,based on annotated logics, foramalgamating multiple knowledge bases when these knowledge bases1994 contain inconsistencies, uncertainties, and nonmonotonicmodes of negation. We show that annotated logics may be used, with somemodifications, to mediate betweendifferent knowledge bases. The multiple knowledge bases are amalgamatedby a transformation of the individual knowledge bases into new annotatedlogic programs, together with the addition of a new axiom scheme. Wecharacterize the declarative semantics of such amalgamated knowledgebases and study how the semantics of the amalgam is related to thesemantics of the individual knowledge bases being combined. © 1994, ACM. All rights reserved.