Knowledge Organization
Knowledge Organization (KO) is
about activities such as document description, indexing and classification
performed in libraries, databases, archives etc. These activities are done by
librarians, archivists, subject specialists as well as by computer algorithms.
KO as a field of study is concerned with the nature and quality of such
knowledge organizing processes (KOP) as well as the knowledge organizing
systems (KOS) used to organize documents, document representations and
concepts. There exist different historical and theoretical approaches to and
theories about KO, which are related to different views of knowledge,
cognition, language, and social organization. Each of these approaches tends to
answer the question: “What is knowledge organization?” differently. LIS
professionals have often concentrated on applying new technology and standards,
and may not have seen their work as involving interpretation and analysis of
meaning. That is why library classification has been criticized for a lack of
substantive intellectual content. Traditional human-based activities are
increasingly challenged by computer-based retrieval techniques. It is
appropriate to investigate the relative contributions of different approaches;
the current challenges make it imperative to reconsider this understanding.
This paper offers an understanding of KO based on an explicit theory of
knowledge. Knowledge Organisation, often referred to as KO, is a field of
investigation within Library and Information Science (LIS). As already
mentioned, KO is directly related to Information Retrieval (IR) – the science
of searching for documents, for information within documents and for metadata
about documents. KO investigates into the nature and order of knowledge, and
primarily concerned with grouping of like things, documents, for information
within documents and for metadata about documents. KO investigates into the
nature and order of knowledge, and primarily concerned with grouping of related
things.
Knowledge Organisation Systems
(KOS)
KOS refers to the semantic tools
that present the organised interpretation of knowledge structures. In this
broad sense, libraries, encyclopaedias, academic disciplines and such other
knowledge organisation systems may serve as examples of KOS. However, it is all
important for the development of knowledge organisation, as an intelligent
system, to know how far the traditional semantic tools and schemes are relevant
and effective in networked resource environment. The term ‘Knowledge
Organisation Systems’ was coined by the Networked Knowledge Organisation
Systems Working Group at the ACM Digital Libraries 098 Conference in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. KOS does not include anything more than what KO does,
other than its emphasis on system. In a general way, KOS refers to the semantic
tools that present the organised interpretation of knowledge structures. In
this broad sense, libraries, encyclopaedias, academic disciplines and such
other knowledge organisation systems may serve as examples of KOS.
Common Characteristics of Knowledge Organisation Systems
- KOS imposes a particular view of the world.
- The same entity can be characterised in different ways depending on the KOS that is used.
- There must be a sufficient commonality between the concept in KOS and the real world objects it refers.
- A person seeking relevant material by using a KOS must be able to connect his or her concept with its representation in the system.
- Providing a controlled list.
- Controlling synonyms or equivalents.
- Linking DL (digital library) resources to related resources.
- Making semantic relationships explicit
- KOS is intended to encompass all types of schemes for organising information and promoting knowledge management.
- Includes traditional classification schemes, subject headings, thesauri, etc.
- Includes less traditional schemes such as semantic networks and ontology
- All digital libraries use one or more KOS.
OR
Knowledge Organization
The term knowledge organization consists of two distinct concepts, i.e. knowledge and organization. While knowledge is universally accepted and well-known concept, its organization refers to the activities involved in categorization of knowledge for its effective retrieval. It involves all activities that are undertaken to organize the published knowledge. The published knowledge could be either in physical format or in digital format. Libraries perform a number of activities for the organization of knowledge that includes classification, cataloguing, indexing of documents available in a library with an aim to provide prompt access to a specific collection of knowledge resources. Basically, knowledge organization means classification of knowledge in various categories so that it can be easily retrieved, whenever required. Traditional libraries deploy a number of tools and techniques to organize their physical collections with an aim to provide most effective and efficient method of browsing, searching and listing of documents available in a library. Such traditional tools and techniques are also being deployed for organizing web information resources. However, there are a number of key differences between traditional print-based resources and electronic resources. Since traditional tools and techniques were found inadequate to develop effective resource discovery and information access, new metadata standards, tools and techniques are developed to handle digital information resources. In traditional library system, the classification and cataloguing are used to organize the knowledge available in print format. These tools became quite popular because of their deftness and flexibility
