Concepts: Ontology
Packing for Polymathon!
In information science, an ontology is a formal representation of categories, properties, and relationships between concepts, data, or entities within a domain.
It provides a structured way to define and organize knowledge, enabling better problem-solving, data system interoperability, and information discovery.
Ontologies are fundamental to various academic disciplines, as they help create standardized terminology and frame theories and research. Ontologies in information science share similarities with philosophical ontologies, both aiming to represent entities and their properties within a categorical system.
While some view applied ontology as an evolution of philosophical work, many current efforts focus on establishing controlled vocabularies for specific domains rather than addressing broader philosophical questions.
Ontology editors and tools are widely used in fields such as artificial intelligence, natural language processing, biomedical informatics, and various industries to create and manage these knowledge structures.
“Ontologies are fundamental to various academic disciplines, as they help create standardized terminology and frame theories and research.”
-Sometimes I have to see a term a millions times before it becomes concrete in my mind, and it finally clicked. I enjoy this format, it’s quieter, easy to focus than most places I’ve been on….Nice work, Ash.