Instructor: Marcia Lei Zeng, Ph.D., Professor
Introduction to various types of knowledge organization systems /services /structures ( KOS ) used in the networked environment. Understanding of functional and data model for enabling KOS , as well as the philosophical, logical, and linguistic fundamentals of KOS . Explanation of design options, features of KOS , and procedures to be used in the thesaurus, taxonomy, and ontology construction. Application of these methods in a set of projects in which students construct thesauri, taxonomies, and ontologies with or without software. Analysis and evaluation of existing KOS . Issues related to online display, visualization, interoperability, and internationalization.
Knowledge organization systems/services/structures ( KOS ) will be the foundation of next-generation websites, intranets, portals, document management systems, and other web-based services. As these web-based services have become increasingly large, complex, and database-driven, the information architecture that underlies them has become more sophisticated. All professional information architects need to understand how to align KOS with the academic, research, service, and business goals of an institution and how to leverage navigation, searching, collaborative filtering, and automated indexing approaches and technologies to achieve cost-effective, scalable solutions.
After completing the course, the students will be able:
1. to gain a higher level of understanding of the principles of thesauri, taxonomies, ontologies and other types of KOS .
2. to understand various methods of knowledge organization and representation and the application of these methods in various types of KOS .
3. to be prepared with the skills in constructing thesauri, taxonomies, and ontologies to be used for networked environment.
4. to acquaint experience in the design and evaluation of KOS .
5. to consider the issues related to KOS in the networked environment.