Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS)

Abstract

Knowledge organization systems (KOS) can be described based on their structures (from flat to multidimensional) and main functions. The latter include eliminating ambiguity, controlling synonyms or equivalents, establishing explicit semantic relationships such as hierarchical and associative relationships, and presenting both relationships and properties of concepts in the knowledge models. Examples of KOS include lists, authority files, gazetteers, synonym rings, taxonomies and classification schemes, thesauri, and ontologies. These systems model the underlying semantic structure of a domain and provide semantics, navigation, and translation through labels, definitions, typing, relationships, and properties for concepts. The term knowledge organization systems (KOS) is intended to encompass all types of schemes for organizing information and promoting knowledge management, such as classification schemes, gazetteers, lexical databases, taxonomies, thesauri, and ontologies (Hodge 2000). These systems model the underlying semantic structure of a domain and provide semantics, navigation, and translation through labels, definitions, typing, relationships, and properties for concepts (Hill et al. 2002, Koch and Tudhope 2004). Embodied as (Web) services, they facilitate resource discovery and retrieval by acting as semantic road maps, thereby making possible a common orientation for indexers and future users, either human or machine (Koch and Tudhope 2003, 2004).