Re: [ontology-summit] [REQUIREMENTS] Fwd: Ontologist Aptitude Test?

[ravi sharma <drravisharma@xxxxxxxxx>]

Joel

Appreciate Comments - many of which I agree with.

 

It is not clear as to how many of these study areas one must complete before being labeled or certified as an ontologist.

 

I was pushing that just as there are generally accepted criteria that allow multidisciplinary (Bio, IT, Philosophy, Math etc.) people to be generally called professionals by a label (e.g. Scientist, etc).

 

We allow people to become ontologists by contributions in one or more of these areas that exploit Ontology, theory, tools, techniques and my preference will be for inclusion rather than exclusion. For the formal recognition we have universities and research institutions in addition that award degrees that may fully or partly use ontology as a discipline!

Thanks.

Ravi

On Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 2:59 PM, Joel Bender <jjb5@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ravi,


Thank you for contributing to this thread.  I would like to be clear that there is a distinction between what is necessary and what is sufficient to be an ontologist, and while I have some personal ideas of what is necessary, I have no idea what would be considered sufficient.

> Is it possible for one to become an acceptable ontologist by dwelling in areas such as mapping entities and relationships that collectively address a phenomenon or observation / experiment?

I would say "yes".  The mapping process would involve exploring the similarities and distinctions between entities, and someone that is good at teasing them out and codifying them would be an important person to have on a development team, and I would accept the "ontologist" label for that person.

For example, a "business process analyst" would be attuned to recognizing workflow patterns for business documents and know how to define them for other people on a team.  The analyst may not be as experienced or adapt at developing a database schema or writing code, but they would be knowledgeable in what that entails and have enough fundamental knowledge to communicate effectively with other people on a team that are experts.

> Does one have to necessarily go to the Math or IT Tools training for being called an Ontologist?

I would expect someone to have training in logic, at least the basics of set theory, graph theory, and first order logic.  I would also expect training and some experience with relational algebra, relational databases, and understand the benefits and pitfalls of moving a schema through first, second, and third normal forms.  The first set of requirements would be for the theoretical side of ontology building (knowing the limits of what can be expressed) and the practical side (what can be effectively turned into functioning code).

> This thread has raised many interesting questions regarding who is or who is "passable - certifiable" ontologist and who certifies whom?

I would rather avoid those sets of questions to keep this thread relatively focused.


Joel

_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2009/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2010
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/

-- 
Thanks.
Ravi
(Dr. Ravi Sharma)
313 204 1740 Mobile
_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/   
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/  
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2009/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2010 
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/    (01)