Social and Community Related Themes in Ontology Evaluation: Findings from an Interview Study

Abstract

A deep exploration of what the term “quality” implicates in the field of ontology selection and reuse takes us much further than what the literature has mostly focused on, that is the internal characteristics of ontologies. A qualitative study with interviews of ontologists and knowledge engineers in different domains, ranging from biomedical field to manufacturing industry reveals novel social and community related themes, that have long been neglected. These themes include responsiveness of the developer team or organization, knowing and trusting the developer team, regular updates and maintenance, and many others. This paper explores such connections, arguing that community and social aspects of ontologies are generally linked to their quality. We believe that this work represents a significant contribution to the field of ontology evaluation, with the hope that the research community can further draw on these initial findings in developing relevant social quality metrics for ontology evaluation and selection.