What's an ontology?

February, 2003

This article originated with a member question, "How do you define ontology?" Included below are some definitions, examples, and references along with comments from members. Although ontology is a fundamental concept in the study of philosophy, this discussion is limited to its use in information management.

What's an ontology?
The short answer is:

Ontologies can exist as mental models, computer models, or a combination of both. Software engineers working on ways of representing knowledge for artificial intelligence applications borrowed the term "ontology" from philosophy, where it's a branch of study about the nature and relations of Being. In computer science, the philosophical concept of "being" translates roughly into the concept of "domain" — a sphere of activity that includes specific users, content, and business processes.

Why is ontology a hot topic?
The current interest in ontologies comes from two business drivers:

1. Improve information retrieval
2. Integrate data from multiple applications

Examples of each are given below.

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