This ontology defines the core concepts of the API4KP framework, namely Knowledge Resources: Assets, Expressions and Artifacts
Elisa Kendall (ekendall at thematix.com)
Davide Sottara (sottara.davide at mayo.edu)
The https://www.omg.org/spec/API4KP/20210201/api4kp.rdf version of this ontology was modified to leverage the Commons Ontology Library (API4KP-22), including replacement of references to Specification Metadata and references to LCC with the Commons Annotation Vocabulary and other Commons ontologies, and to reduce the dependency on DOL as appropriate. References to the latest version of ISO 1087 were incorporated (API4KP-25), and inconsistencies in the representation of linguistic entities were addressed (API4KP-29).
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Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Freie Universität Berlin
Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER)
Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Raytheon Technologies
Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Thematix Partners LLC
Copyright (c) 2015-2023 Object Management Group, Inc.
Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Universität Leipzig
API4KP expressions are expressions in a language that has a formal grammar, but do not necessarily need to have formal semantics themselves, whereas a DOL expression has formal semantics.
The natural-language definition of 'Language' in DOL is limited to 'word-based' languages, while the LCC definition is more general, including sounds and symbols.
specification of the algorithm for the extraction of the square root of a number in some programming language such as Java (version 8)
By definition, an OMS is an information object that is about (an intellectual work that is about) some form of knowledge about something. In the context of API4KP, it is an expression of some Work of Knowledge in the Abstract Syntax of some language.
if a resource uses a language, it is possible to extract an expression from that resource that is a valid according to that language's grammar, and can be parsed into an abstract syntax tree
abstract knowledge expression
knowledge expression that conforms to the abstract syntax of the language(s) used in the expression itself
An abstract expression is the class of equivalence of concrete expressions in some Language, across the various serializations supported by that language.
intentional process, executed with the active participation of one of more agents that carry out a plan
entity that has the capability (potential) to initiate or participate in an activity
includes individual agents as well as parties; natural and artificial
agent that is the product of some activity
includes 'intelligent' software agents, in the AI sense
atomic knowledge resource, i.e. knowledge resource that does not have proper parts that are themselves individual knowledge resources
complex knowledge resource
knowledge resource that can be decomposed into proper parts at the same level of abstraction
composite knowledge resource
complex knowledge resource that has proper parts that are individual knowledge resources, each playing different roles, and with mutual relationships
knowledge artifact suitable to be used in knowledge processing activities performed by a software agent
atomic (non-decomposable) unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics
The notion of concept as a 'unit of knowledge' is consistent with knowledge as a generically dependent continuant. The corresponding, but distinct, specifically dependent continuant is often referred to as 'unit of thought'
Individual members of this class are universals, which themselves archetype individuals that are instances of the given concept.
ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.2.7
concrete knowledge expression
knowledge expression that conforms to the concrete syntax of the language(s) used in the expression itself
definition that is an explicit specification enabling recognition and/or construction of instances that conform with the specification
serialized knowledge expression that includes extra symbols used for presentation, but otherwise does not impact the recognition and/or the interpretation of the expression
concept that has at least one explicit, shared definition
a concept that is captured in an ontology, and such that it has a formal definition expressible, e.g. in OWL or Common Logic
representation of a concept by a descriptive statement that serves to differentiate it from related concepts, such as by capturing necessary and sufficient conditions
ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.3.1
knowledge expression such that its symbols have been further processed to be inscribed on a specific knowledge carrier
knowledge
The knowledge level. A. Newell. Artificial intelligence 18 (1), 87-127, 1982
cognition (know-what), pragmatics (know-how) and understanding (know-why) about the nature and/or behavior of some Thing such that, when internalized by an agent, has the potential of generating actions in situations that the knowledge applies to
Knowledge empowers agents that are intelligent, knowledgeable and rational. - Given an agent that is in a situation such that the agent has awareness of, goals for, and the ability to act; - Assuming that the agent is knowledgeable and has internalized some knowledge that is about the situation the agent is in. - Assuming that the agent is intelligent, and can apply the knowledge to the situation to predict and plan the course of its actions - A rational agent will choose the plan that maximizes the probability to achieve its goals, and that (prior) probability has not been decreased by having the knowledge compared to not having it.
In API4KP, 'Knowledge' is a generically dependent continuant. As such, it can be expressed and communicated, and can be internalized by agents and/or engraved on carriers (thus becoming a specifically dependent continuant).
knowledge artifact
digital or physical object that is specifically constructed to carry one or more (expressions of) knowledge assets
In FRBR, artifact types (manifestations) are distinguished from individual artifacts (items). In OWL-DL, unless punning is adopted, 'items' are individual members of this KnowledgeArtifact class; 'manifestations' can either be formalized as constrained subclasses of KnowledgeArtifact, or as individual concepts
work of knowledge that is a knowledge resource considered valuable by a party
A knowledge asset is the class of equivalence of all its faithful expressions in different languages.
corollary 1: as knowledge resources, knowledge assets are immutable, versionable, identifiable and support at least one representation (i.e. expression in some language)
corollary 2: to be valuable to a party (agent or collective thereof), an asset must have been internalized by some agent, and/or shared evidence must exist that the knowledge does increase the likelihood of an agent's achieving their goals in situations where the knowledge applies
knowledge asset surrogate
knowledge artifact that carries metadata about a knowledge asset and its expressions
physical or digital object that carries a knowledge asset
'carrier' is more properly a role the connects an artifact to the piece of knowledge it carries
includes but is not limited to books, pictures, documents, files, waves, but also neural patterns
atomic fragment that uses a single construct of the language used in the expression the fragment is part of
knowledge expression
expression of a piece of knowledge in some language, i.e. using a combination of signs and symbols that conform to the rules of the grammar of that language
proper part of a knowledge expression that is not the realization of a knowledge asset itself
fragments express proper parts of a knowledge asset
concept that abstracts a specific class of knowledge artifacts, defining the common qualities of its members and their content
activity that produces, consumes or otherwise makes use of knowledge as a resource
knowledge has to be used as an explicit resource - it is not sufficient that the agent performing the activity has knowledge of how to carry out the activity itself
immutable, identifiable, versionable entity that is, expresses or carries some piece of knowledge
knowledge resource description
representation of knowledge that contains information about another resource
agent that internally represents some (piece of) knowledge
The knowledge can be acquired in a variety of ways (learning, experience, teaching), but once internalized, the knowledge should drive the agent's behavior when applicable, and the agent should be able to express the knowledge so that it can be communicated.
fundamental concept that cannot be broken down into simpler concepts
The notion of 'primitive' concept is useful to define 'common' vs 'background' knowledge and, in particular, the requirements for an agent's ability to internalize a shared piece of knowledge. The more philosophical discussion on 'innate concepts' - concepts such that NO explicit, shared definition (needs to) exists - is instead irrelevant.
knowledge expression that manifests a concrete knowledge expression using a specific choice of symbols
model that describes how a complex resource could be decomposed into functional parts, OR, a specification of how to compose knowledge resources into a composite resource
Some structures are extensional and expressed using a graph language (e.g. RDF(S)); other structures are intensional and expressed using a production language (e.g. DOL).
Some structures are set-oriented: aggregate resources that share some common type (e.g. rules, or ontology axioms); some structures are tree-oriented: there is a type of relationship (e.g. dependency) that imposes a tree-based ordering between the components.
finite, explicit (i.e. non-tacit) complex organization of concepts (units of knowledge) that can be communicated and internalized by some agent, and is the product of a knowledge processing activity
a formal Ontology, prepared by an ontologist, and engineered to answer a number of competency questions, independently of the actual formal language used to express it.
a lecture, as the outcome of a teacher's choosing and organizing the topics so they can be explained to the students.
a statistician's description of a stochastic process by means of a Markov model
an algorithm for the extraction of the square root of a number
the content of a newspaper article, as determined by a journalist deciding what facts and/or opinions to include, and how to present them, independently of any editorial and/or formatting
the technique for the preparation of the traditional 'ragu alla bolognese'
The organization of the concepts is deliberate: works of knowledge are designed to communicate knowledge that enables specific types of activities and facilitates the achievement of specific goals. The selection of what concepts are primitive within the scope of the work, and what relationships are established between different works, is also deliberate and usually depends on the target audience, i.e. the class of agents (and their background knowledge) that are expected to internalize the knowledge.
The term 'Work of Knowledge' mirrors the term 'Work of Art'
uses a smaller number of symbols, fragments, and/or concepts than the target expression, while sharing at least subject and topic
abstracts the common qualities of a class of individuals
knowledge can be tacit or explicit, and due to its graph-oriented nature, it may not have a definitive boundary. The curation act of a work of knowledge consists in scoping and externalizing a piece of that knowledge.
is inscribed with a (serialized) expression of a knowledge asset
is such that, for each concept in the knowledge asset, has at least one fragment that captures it
provides a formalization of the necessary aspects of
faithfully, concisely, consistently and unambiguously expresses a knowledge asset using a formal (grammatical) structure, if not a knowledge representation language
provides the necessary and sufficient conditions to classify (and possibly to construct) instances of a concept
requires instances of this concept to be inputs during the process of being applied, where the instances would have to be scoped by the same context
depends on
involves such that its use is impacted by the availability of the target resource
An asset may depend on another asset if the latter is background knowledge that facilitates the understanding of the former.
includes mandatory vs. optional dependencies, named vs. type-based dependencies, and early vs. late resolution
has a copy of an (encoding of a concretization of a) knowledge expression inscribed on/in it
a specialization of the upper ontology notion of 'bearing'
is the expression of a knowledge asset in a given language
has descriptive knowledge about itself and its manifestations that is carried by some artifact
abstracts the common qualities of a class of knowledge artifacts
has part that is identifiable and distinct from the whole
has proper part that is a functional component (i.e. plays a role with respect to the other parts of the same composite it is part of)
has structural component whose role is to define roles and relationships between the other components
is, expresses or carries knowledge of a class of entities that are loosely categorized
is, expresses or carries knowledge of a specific aspect of the entities it has as a subject
internally represents
carries an internal representation of the knowledge (e.g. neurons, but also digital memories) that enables reasoning and planning
relates something to a particular subject or topic - who, what, how, when, where or why a referent entity is and/or behaves
is carried by
has some expression that is serialized and inscribed on a knowledge carrier, of which this asset is (part of) its content
is concretization of
can be parsed into (the) abstract knowledge expression
created as the product of an activity that used another resource as an input, and such that some of the concepts used in the input resource ended up being used in this resource
a resource may be a derivative of any number of resources, all which need to contribute at least some concept.
has a (serialized and encoded) copy inscribed in the target carrier
a specialization of the upper ontology notion of 'inherence'
can be decoded into (the) serializedp knowledge expression
entity that participates, playing some role, in an activity
is mappable to a knowledge resource that exists at a higher level of abstraction on the asset / artifact chain
is mappable to a knowledge resource that exists at a lower level of abstraction on the asset / artifact chain
can be reconstructed from the parsing and interpretation of
exists as a consequence of the execution of an activity
can be abstracted into (the) knowledge asset
participates passively, and is somehow affected, during the course of an activity
can be parsed into (the) concrete knowledge expression
is employed under the control of an agent that performs an activity, for the purpose of achieving a goal
expresses or carries the same knowledge asset as, but differs in at least one of language, serialization, lexicon, alphabet, encoding, or internal arrangement thereof
(Weber, 1997): construct redundancy occurs when more than one grammatical construct can be used to represent the same ontological construct
such that, for each concept in the knowledge asset, that concept is always represented using the same construct every time it is evoked in a fragment of the expression
(Weber, 1997): "construct overload occurs when a single grammatical construct can stand for two or more ontological constructs"
such that every fragment of the expression has no more than one possible interpretation as a concept that is part of the knowledge asset
provides a descriptive formalization of the necessary and contigent aspects of
actively contributes to the progress of the activity towards the achievement of its goals
expresses knowledge about something, usually in a formal way
(Weber, 1997): "construct excess occurs when a grammatical construct does not map onto an ontological construct"
is such that every fragment in the expression can be interpreted in terms of concepts that are part of the knowledge asset
no element in the epxression is redundant
provides a prescriptive formalization of the normative and informative aspects of
establishes (potential) components, roles and mutual relationships
is, expresses or carries knowledge of which this concept is either part or a dependency of
employs a specific language in order to accomplish some task or achieve some result
employs a specific natural language in order to accomplish some task or achieve some result