From concepts to ontologies in metadata: a happy explication of a

cognitive scenario for discoverability

Raisa IIVONEN, Päivi LIPSANEN, Ari MUHONEN, Esko SIIRALA

Viikki Campus Library, University of Helsinki, and Jyväskylä University Library, Finland raisa.iivonen@helsinki.fi

Outline

• Aim

• Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion

• References

• Acknowledgments

Aim

In this presentation we will explicate a scenario how to support a collaborative method in order to create a reliable bank of terminology where the concepts are defined, validated and accepted by the scientific community. Scientific knowledge is not available if it is not found or discovered. Academic libraries bring happiness by producing discoverability

Aim (2)

• Discoverability or findability as a part of availability

• Tool or toolkit which helps to solve the problems of finding or discovering relevant information

• A well designed plan or scenario how to achieve this

• Case: veterinary terminology in Finnish

Aim (3)

Methods (overview)

• Semantic web

• Ontologies

• Natural semantic metalanguage

Methods (2a)

• The Semantic Web is the extension of the World Wide Web that enables people to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites

• Ontologies are considered one of the pillars of the Semantic Web, although they do not have a universally accepted definition. A (Semantic Web) vocabulary can be considered as a special form of (usually light-weight) ontology, or sometimes also merely as a collection of URIs with an (usually informally) described meaning.

• The Natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) is a linguistic theory and a practical, meaning-based approach to linguistic analysis.

Methods (2b) The happy explication The explication for the English emotion term 'happy' (with the verb 'to be'), shows how a prototypical cognitive scenario can be incorporated into an explication. The feeling experienced by X is not described directly; rather it is described as LIKE the good feeling experienced by a person who thinks certain prototypical thoughts, cf. Wierzbicka (1999; in press). • someone X is happy (at this time): • someone X thinks like this at this time:

– "many good things are happening to me as I want – I can do many things now as I want – this is good"

• because of this, this someone feels something good at this time – like someone can feel when they think like this

This approach to emotion semantics allows a great deal of subtle differentiation between closely related emotions (e.g. 'happy', 'joyful', 'pleased', 'content', 'related', 'jubilant', and so on). To see this, here is a parallel explication for the word 'contented'. Notice that it follows the same overall structure or "semantic template": • someone X is contented (at this time): • someone X thinks like this at this time:

– "something good is happening to me now< – I want this – I don't want anything else now"

• because of this, this someone feels something good at this time – like someone can feel when they think like this

Methods 3

• On Viikki Campus the library is responsible for indexing journal articles in national databases

• Appropriate thesauri are always needed … as a solution the library has created a Finnish terminology Agriforest, which contains e.g. of FAO’s Agrovoc:

• Now it is ontologized and is called AFO, as a part of the Finnish Ontology Service Finto

• AFO does not include many veterinary terms • MeSH (FinMesh) is used when medical terms are needed in

indexing veterinary books and articles • But MeSH is not comprehensive from the veterinary point

of view … • (CABI’s subject headings have not been used in Finland)

Results • A well designed ontology is needed for the veterinary indexing

purposes • A well planned scenario is needed to create such multipurpose

system with many users and specialists (too many cooks spoil the broth) “We define cognitive scenario as all the conditions through which information processing passes, distributed between the human and the environmental side.”

• Cognitive Scenarios for Problem Solving in S/W Engineering (2001) – venez1@yahoo.com

In the performing arts, a scenario (from Italian: that which is pinned to the scenery[1][2]) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the Commedia dell'arte it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pinned to the back of the scenery

In the creation of an opera or ballet, a scenario is often developed initially to indicate how the original source, if any, is to be adapted and to summarize the aspects of character, staging, plot, etc. that can be expanded later in a fully developed libretto, or script. This sketch can be helpful in "pitching" the idea to a prospective producer, director or composer.

Results (2)

• The Bank of Finnish Terminology in Arts and Sciences (BFT) is a multidisciplinary project which aims to gather a permanent terminological database for all fields of research in Finland. The project has created this Semantic MediaWiki platform, which offers a collaborative environment. This means that anyone can freely use it and also participate in the discussion about terms.

• The project is being carried out in three pilot projects: botany, jurisprudence, and linguistics.

Discussion

• Finnish differs from other European languages

– Vocabulary

– Grammar

– Practice

• Advantages of ontologies

• E.g. MeSH – translations in European languages (SweMeSH, FinMeSH ….)

Discussion (2) • Examples of differences:

Discussion (3)

• The problem of validation of scientific terms may be solved by collaboration of specialists

• A tool for this is the Bank of Finnish Terminology in Arts and Sciences (BFT), where terms are defined and discussed using wiki

• Agreements between the scientific society and the wiki updators must be done

• E.g. the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Finnish Veterinary Association and the Finnish Food Safety Authority create and use veterinary terminology in Finland

• The library coordinates the collaboration

Discussion (4)

• The National library of Finland enables linkages between Finto service and national article database Arto

• Metadata will be produced by the authors and publishers

• Using ontologies the indexer – an amateur like professor – may be confident that his terms are valids

Conclusion

Did we get a happy explication?

Scientific knowledge is not available if it is not discovered. With skillful and reliable indexing the publications are found.

Academic libraries bring happiness by producing findability and discoverability.

References

Iivonen, R. & al. Finnish Veterinary Terminology: translating medical and veterinary subject headings using collaborative process

http://sites-final.uclouvain.be/EAHIL2012/conference/?q=node/904

Veneziano, V. Cognitive Scenarios for Problem Solving in S/W Engineering

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.92.6358&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Morville, P. Ambient findability. O’Reilly, 2005.

Acknowledgments

Finnish Veterinary Association

Finnish Veterinary Journal

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki

Viikki Campus Library (Helsinki University Library)

Jyväskylä University Library

Bank of Finnish Terminology in Arts and Sciences

National Library of Finland

(loppukuva)