Ontologies: Analysis about their implementations in library science

Abstract

The objective of this article is to determine the implementations that ontologies have in library science. The initial hypothesis established that ontologies can function as Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS) with similar functions as subject headings or thesauri. The methodology used consisted in bibliographic review and case analysis. The results evidence that ontologies in library science can be implemented into five functions: (1) structured representation of domains, (2) thematic organization of digital information resources, (3) generation of learning, (4) building of the semantic web, and (5) structuring of linked data networks. The results confirmed that they can be formally applied as KOS, but also implemented in general for modelling data or information in the web. It is concluded that they are systems with a high potential for representing and organizing information in digital contexts.