Chris, Ed: (01)
I disagree that an ontology is (1) an artifact and (2) is something that can be
engineered. (Thus I support Peter's question of whether "ontology engineer" is
a useful term.) It is the *representation/manifestation* of an ontology that
is the artifact that is created - it's the OWL representation (or CL
representation or whatever) that is the artifact. There is also the intangible
aspect of what the representation of the ontology means that not subject to
engineering discipline, but rather depends more on individual interpretation
and perspective. An ontology is not like a chair or a car or a building that
is engineered to meet specific, concrete, physical requirements, and can be
measured whether or not it meets those requirements. While I agree that
training and experience can make one a better ontology designer, I don't think
it's possible to completely remove individual bias from the process. (02)
Bill (03)
-----Original Message-----
From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ed Barkmeyer
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 2:57 PM
To: [ontolog-forum]
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] I ontologise, you ontologise, we all mess up...
(was: Modeling a money transferring scenario, or any of a range of similar
dialogues) (04)
+1 (05)
I was about to write almost exactly what Chris wrote below. An ontology
is an artifact that performs a function. Engineers design artifacts
that perform functions. Thus the term. (06)
Peter is right that 'ontology engineers' and 'knowledge engineers' and
'computer systems analysts' may tend to inject their ideas and
misunderstandings into their artifacts. But part of that is that
encoding knowledge involves a certain amount of understanding of that
knowledge by the knowledge engineer. There is a fine line between
rephrasing what you think was said for the purpose of clarifying what
the expert said, and injecting your own understanding into the model.
The related problem is the erroneous belief that your technology is
powerful enough to represent exactly the knowledge that is needed, which
causes you to dismiss what you don't know how to represent, as opposed
to wondering whether your product will be able to perform the intended
function. (07)
I repeat what I said earlier about the hubris of engineers -- many
engineers think they can quickly master any related subject sufficiently
for their work, and knowledge engineers are no exception. Like any
trade, there is a spectrum of competence, and the high end practitioners
are experienced enough to know when they are out of their depth. (As a
journeyman software engineer working with a physicist to debug a
program, I pushed deeper and deeper into the mathematics. At some
point, the physicist said to me, "I don't know how much nuclear magnetic
resonance I can teach you in an hour!" Point taken!) (08)
-Ed (09)
"The greatest enemy of Knowledge is not Ignorance,
it is the Illusion of Knowledge."
-- Stephen Hawking (010)
Christopher Menzel wrote:
> On Jan 11, 2011, at 1:49 PM, Peter Brown wrote:
>
>> ...
>> I remain baffled by the terms (and the presumed concepts behind them - which
>are *not* clear at all) of 'ontology engineer' and 'ontology engineering'. I
>do not think that one can 'engineer' an ontology any more than one can
>engineer a meeting: one can bring skills, methods and tools to the meeting (as
>Chair of a meeting for example) and can make sometimes significant progress
>even in ignorance of the subject of the meeting - if the purpose of the role
>of Chair is to help the meeting to come to some conclusion. However, once a
>Chair starts to pronounce on matters and get involved in the substance of a
>meeting, those skills and methods become overshadowed by their ignorance or
>partisanship.
>>
>
> Hello Peter,
>
> I don't understand your analogy. An ontology is a concrete artifact (unlike
>a meeting). And, like the production of any quality artifact, the production
>of a good ontology requires training and expertise. On the face of it,
>anyway, "ontology engineer" seems a reasonable title for those with the
>appropriate training and expertise. (Opinions vary, of course, regarding the
>nature and extent of such training and expertise.)
>
> I have to say that I don't see how an ontology is in any way enough like a
>meeting to support your argument that, because it makes no sense to engineer a
>meeting, it makes no sense to engineer an ontology.
>
> -chris
>
>
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--
Edward J. Barkmeyer Email: edbark@xxxxxxxx
National Institute of Standards & Technology
Manufacturing Systems Integration Division
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8263 Tel: +1 301-975-3528
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8263 Cel: +1 240-672-5800 (012)
"The opinions expressed above do not reflect consensus of NIST,
and have not been reviewed by any Government authority." (013)
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