The DOGMA ontology framework aims to support the elicitation and application of ontological knowledge in real-world information systems and business processes. In the software environment, DOGMA Studio, the focus so far has been on building the basic infrastructure necessary for providing such support, in particular the Lexon Base and Commitment Server. DOGMA-MESS is the community-interface to DOGMA-Studio, making DOGMA more efficiently support relevant meaning negotiation processes in communities of practice.
Most of the work in DOGMA-MESS in the past year has focused on the development of a knowledge representation and analysis module. The focus is now shifting towards supporting the actual interaction processes between users. One important problem in large-scale ontology engineering is overload: time of domain experts is very expensive, and required participation in ontology engineering operations may be too demanding for limited time resources available. To ensure the highest quality ontologies with the least amount of time spent, it is essential that the relevance of knowledge definitions produced is ensured. To this purpose, we are experimenting with different relevance calculation procedures.
Goal of your project is to (1) survey the literature on relevance in ontology engineering, (2) develop an algorithm for relevance calculation in DOGMA-MESS, (3) implement this algorithm. The implementation should make optimal use of the lexon, commitment and context visualization, browsing, and editing facilities provided by DOGMA-Studio. The software module will be tested in the context of the CODRIVE project in which a methodology for interorganizational ontology engineering is developed in, amongst others, a Dutch Bakery and Walloon public employment case.
Java / JDBC / Eclipse
You have programming skills in Java, and some experience with JDBC and GUI development. Experience with the Eclipse platform is an advantage but not a necessity. You are able to work autonomously, as well as in a team.
Aldo de Moor (ademoor@vub.ac.be)
Stijn Christiaens (stichris at vub.ac.be)