Chapter 1. The Need for Knowledge Organization. Introduction to the book Linking Knowledge: Linked Open Data for Knowledge Organization

Abstract

This book is not restricted to semantic web (SW) technologies. An aspiration was to contribute to the awakening of a dialogue between information and documentation concerned with knowledge organization systems (KOSs), and branches in computer science with an emphasis on machines, algorithms and ontologies. The technological evolution of the last decades has not only fostered the emergence of ever more KOSs but also semantic web technologies. Both the actions of 'making a KOS' and 'applying existing KOSs' represent research. The design of an information layer for a knowledge domain and the design of a domain specific research process are intrinsically interwoven. We extended our intervention to KOS practices into education, by presenting a translation of existing standards and recommendations about linked open data (LOD) publishing for non-experts. The chapters describe the state of the art in providing KOSs as semantic artefacts; how the state of the art is applied in new fields; how the state of the art is pushed towards new technological solutions by being confronted with new applications; how best practices need to be tailored towards specific solutions; and what challenges occur when merging new and old ways of expressing KOSs. The linked data (LD) ecosystem represents a source of knowledge generation, acquisition, production and dissemination. The underlying discourse shows historical vision alongside the promise of linking knowledge for interaction. The already maturing ecosystems of the SW are interlocking information institutions clearly devoted to the expansion of human experience through the growth of knowledge interaction.