The idea that ontological theories could be used to provide a theoretical basis for evaluating conceptual-modeling grammars and scripts was initiated some thirty years ago. The authors provide some... Show More

The idea that ontological theories could be used to provide a theoretical basis for evaluating conceptual-modeling grammars and scripts was initiated some thirty years ago. The authors provide some brief history about the early research that discussed how ontological theories might be used to study conceptual-modeling grammars and scripts. They then give an overview of the progress that has been made using various elements of this early research. Next, they outline some of the major critiques that have been made of conceptual-modeling work that uses ontological foundations. Finally, the authors suggest some areas that they believe hold substantial promise in using ontology to better understand and predict conceptual-modeling phenomena.

Domain ontologies and conceptual models similarly capture and represent concepts from the real world for inclusion in an information system. This paper examines challenges of conceptual modeling and... Show More

Domain ontologies and conceptual models similarly capture and represent concepts from the real world for inclusion in an information system. This paper examines challenges of conceptual modeling and domain ontology development when mapping to high-level ontologies. The intent is to reconcile apparent differences and position some of the inherent challenges in these closely-coupled areas of research, while providing insights into recognizing and resolving modeling difficulties.

A particularly difficult, but important, challenge in the design and development of contemporary information systems is dealing with complexity. Although complexity has been richly discussed from... Show More

A particularly difficult, but important, challenge in the design and development of contemporary information systems is dealing with complexity. Although complexity has been richly discussed from various perspectives in the literature, there is limited guidance on how to address complexity in information systems design. This research analyzes different approaches to handling complexity and finds that there exists a plurality of ways in which to address complexity that are dependent upon the given situation. This analysis results in the derivation of a framework for addressing complexity in information systems. The framework explicitly recognizes implications and limitations of decomposition, inner-outer environments, abstractions, and decentralization, and the role of Ontology. Application of the framework is intended to enable information researchers to identify and adapt applicable strategies for managing complexity in any domain.

Provenance is becoming increasingly important as more and more people are using data that they themselves did not generate. In the last decade, significant efforts have been directed toward... Show More

Provenance is becoming increasingly important as more and more people are using data that they themselves did not generate. In the last decade, significant efforts have been directed toward developing generic, shared data provenance ontologies that support the interoperability of provenance across systems. An issue that is impeding the use of such provenance ontologies is that a generic provenance ontology, no matter how complete it is, is insufficient for capturing the diverse, complex provenance requirements in different domains. In this paper, the authors propose a novel approach to adapting and extending the W7 model, a well-known generic ontology of data provenance. Relying on various knowledge expansion mechanisms provided by the Conceptual Graph formalism, the authors' approach enables us to develop domain ontologies of provenance in a disciplined yet flexible way.