I think we used to give that decision to Webster's dictionary for english.
If enough uses of a word could be documented, it got added. This was done
by a committee. I remember the big fuss when the definition of "google" was
expanded to include its' use as a verb. (01)
Even now, we use the term "ontology" and variances of it that are not
recognized in the dictionary. My spell checker software does not like me
referring to several of them as "ontologies" or "ontology's". (02)
If enough people spell the word "modelling" with two "l's" as the queen of E
would have it, when does that become the accepted norm? (03)
I would encourage a separation of the representation terms from the
conceptual domain though. Googling some information is akin to searching
for so the concept is already accepted in the ontology, just the way we
represent that concept in various contexts might be the distinction. As I
averred earlier, the folksonomy terms might represent a constantly evolving
way to express concepts. (04)
D (05)
On 3/7/07 12:53 PM, "Peter F Brown" <peter@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: (06)
> John:
> I like your comments about Esperanto and Hebrew. I think that you point
> you make can be applied by analogy to ontology as well: the questions
> for me then are:
> - how does an artifice such as a formally modelled ontology (cf
> Esperanto) become used in a manner that grows organically as an
> interoperable means of discourse (cf post-1945 Hebrew)?
> - in the other direction, how does an informal "language" ("folksonomy",
> community tagging etc, cf orally transmitted Hebrew/Yiddish before 1945)
> become codified in a manner that provides stability, predictability and
> interoperability without losing its organic character?
>
> Peter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John F.
> Sowa
> Sent: 07 March 2007 21:18
> To: [ontolog-forum]
> Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] [ontology-summit] PLEASE, PLEASE!!
>
> Duane, Keith, and Peter,
>
> I support the principle of collaborative tagging. My only
> complaint was about calling the result a folksonomy.
>
> Following is the URL and abstract of an article that describes
> the principles involved:
>
> http://arxiv.org/abs/cs.DL/0508082
> The Structure of Collaborative Tagging Systems
>
> Scott Golder, Bernardo A. Huberman
>
> Collaborative tagging describes the process by which many users
> add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content. Recently,
> collaborative tagging has grown in popularity on the web, on
> sites that allow users to tag bookmarks, photographs and other
> content. In this paper we analyze the structure of collaborative
> tagging systems as well as their dynamical aspects. Specifically,
> we discovered regularities in user activity, tag frequencies,
> kinds of tags used, bursts of popularity in bookmarking and a
> remarkable stability in the relative proportions of tags within
> a given url. We also present a dynamical model of collaborative
> tagging that predicts these stable patterns and relates them
> to imitation and shared knowledge.
>
> I think that the word "folksonomy" trivializes an extremely
> important principle. In fact, it is essentially the underlying
> mechanism that has produced the vocabulary and syntax of every
> natural language on earth.
>
> Artificially constructed languages, such as Esperanto, are
> similar to natural languages, but Wittgenstein was completely
> disgusted by them. He didn't explain his distaste in detail,
> but I suspect that he felt they lacked the richness, subtlety,
> and "life" of a true natural language.
>
> However, I think a language such as Esperanto could evolve into
> a natural language after a generation or two of widespread use.
> Something like that happened to Hebrew after its revival as
> a living language in Israel. Then it took on a new life and
> evolved into something quite different from Biblical Hebrew.
>
> John
>
>
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