The Information Artifact Ontology
Barry Smith
IAO-Intel An Ontology of Information Artifacts in
the Intelligence Domain Barry SmithUniversity at
BuffaloNY, USA
Tatiana MalyutaCUNY, NY, USA
Data Tactics, McLean, VA
Ron RudnickiCUBRC, Buffalo
NY, USA
William Mandrick Data Tactics
McLean, VA, USA
David SalmenData Tactics
McLean, VA, USA
Peter MorosoffE-Maps, Inc.
Washington, DC, USA
Danielle K. DuffI2WD
Aberdeen, MD, USA
James SchoeningI2WD
Aberdeen, MD, USA
Kesny ParentI2WD
Aberdeen, MD, USA
presentation tomorrow at 2pm (Session 1B)
describes work being carried out for the US Army’s Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A) Standard Cloud (DSC) initiative; part of a strategy for the horizontal integration of warfighter intelligence data
IAO• IAO: The Information Artifact Ontology, developed
by scientific researchers as a vehicle for annotating data about measurement results, publications, protocols, databases, consent forms, licenses
in a way that will allow discovery, integration and analysisTwo kinds of data about data:
– 1. what are the data about Domain Ontologies– 2. how the data are packaged (collected, presented,
formatted, stored) IAO Ontologies
IAO-Intel
• IAO-Intel – an extension of IAO and incorporating features of the AIRS Information Ontology – to provide common resources for the consistent description of information artifacts of relevance to the intelligence community
IAO: Report / IAO-Intel: Intelligence Report
IAO-Intel terms are defined by using terms from the ontologies in the yellow box via relations such as:• is-about• created-by• derives-from and so forth
Anatomy Ontology(FMA*, CARO)
Environment
Ontology(EnvO)
Infectious Disease
Ontology(IDO*)
Biological Process
Ontology (GO*)
Cell Ontology
(CL)
CellularComponentOntology
(FMA*, GO*) Phenotypic Quality
Ontology(PaTO)Subcellular Anatomy Ontology (SAO)
Sequence Ontology (SO*) Molecular
Function(GO*)Protein Ontology
(PRO*) Extension Strategy + Modular Organization
top level
mid-level
domain level
Information Artifact Ontology
(IAO)
Ontology for Biomedical
Investigations(OBI)
Spatial Ontology
(BSPO)
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
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8/24
IAO-Science IAO-IntelIAO-
LibraryScience (~Dublin Core)
IAO-Computing
IAO-Biolo
gy
IAO-Physi
cs
IAO-Intel-Navy
IAO-Intel-Army
IAO-Intel-FBI
IAO-Hardware
IAO-Softwar
e
The Email
Ontology
IAO provides the hub for a gradually evolving set of modular spokes; each module built by
downward population from its parent
top level
mid-level(generic hub)
domain level(spokes
populating downwards)
Information Artifact Ontology(IAO)
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
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Strategy of downward populationIAO IAO-Intel (examples)Report Intelligence Report (FM 6-99.2, 126) Summary Electronic Warfare Mission Summary (FM 6-99.2, 87)Diagram Network Analysis Diagram (from JP 2-01.3, II-51)Overlay Combined Information Overlay (JP 2-01.3, II 33)Assessment Assessment of Impact of Damage (FM 6-99.2, 53)Estimate Adversary Course of Action Estimate List List of High-Value Targets (JP 2-01.3, II 61) Order Airspace Control Order (FM 6-99.2, 17)Matrix Target Value Matrix (JP 2-01.3, II-63)Template Ground and Air Adversary Template (JP 2-01.3, II-57)
Information Artifactsartifact =def. an entity created through some deliberate act or acts by one or more human beings and which endures through time
information artifact: an artifact that can be the bearer of information
(a) information bearing entity (IBE) – a hard drive, a passport, a piece of paper with a drawing of a map(b) information content entity (ICE) – an entity which is about something and which can potentially exist in multiple (for example digital or printed) copies – a jpg file, a pdf file
Copyable information artifacts can exist both as tokensPeirce and as typesPeirce
Token = the particular information artifact of interest, tied to some particular physical information bearer: the photographic image on this piece of paper retrieved from this enemy combatantType = The copyable information content that is carried by the artifact in question. The same photographic image type may be printed out in multiple paper tokens
Warning: this is not the same as the instance-class distinction
Need for controlled vocabulary to describe data about information artifacts
DoD Directive 8320.02 (version dated August 5, 2013) requires • 1. all authoritative DoD data sources to be registered in
the DoD Data Services Environment (DSE)• 2. that all salient metadata be discoverable, searchable,
retrievable, and understandable“Data standards and specifications that require associated semantic and structural metadata, including vocabularies, taxonomies, and ontologies, will be published in the DSE, or in a registry that is federated with the DSE.” FEAR LINKED OPEN DATA
The Dublin Core: How not to solve the problem of creating consistent information artifact metadata
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)an open organization supporting innovation in metadata design and best practices across the metadata ecology http://dublincore.org/ Resource (as in ‘RDF’) + 15 basic ‘elements’:
0. RESOURCE 8. TYPE 1. TITLE 9. FORMAT 2. CREATOR 10. IDENTIFIER
3. SUBJECT 11. SOURCE 4. DESCRIPTION 12. LANGUAGE
5. PUBLISHER 13. RELATION
6. CONTRIBUTORS 14. COVERAGE
7. DATE 15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)An open organization supporting innovation in metadata design and best practices across the metadata ecology
http://dublincore.org/
The Core
• Resource (as in ‘RDF’) + 15 basic ‘elements’:
0. RESOURCE 8. TYPE 1. TITLE 9. FORMAT 2. CREATOR 10. IDENTIFIER 3. SUBJECT 11. SOURCE 4. DESCRIPTION 12. LANGUAGE 5. PUBLISHER 13. RELATION 6. CONTRIBUTORS 14. COVERAGE7. DATE 15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
1) What’s a “resource”?A resource is anything that has identity. Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a service (e.g., "today's weather report for Los Angeles"), and a collection of other resources. Assumption: resource = information artifact
2) How do “elements” apply to “resources”?
An Element is a characteristic that a resource may “have”, such as a Title, Publisher, or Subject.
The same resource can be instantiated in different ways
Format: The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]. Example: image/jpeg.
The Core (cont.)
What describes the content / topic / subject-matter?
Title: The name given to the resource.
Description: An account of the content of the resource. Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, table of contents, reference to a graphical representation of content or a free-text account of the content.
Subject: The topic of the content of the resource. Typically, a subject will be expressed as keywords or key phrases or classification codes that describe the topic of the resource.
The Core (cont.)
Benefits of Dublin Core
• Available in multiple formats• W3C recommended• Mapping to PROV
Problems with Dublin Core• Scope not defined (‘anthing that has identity’)• Does not provide logical definitions, but relies
rather on vague natural language expressions (including use of “scare” “quotes” to warn the user that terms are not intended literally)
• Provides only suggestive guidance as to use of associated standards
• Does not interoperate well with other (topic) ontologies
Confuses words and things
• Source: A reference to a resource from which the present resource is derived. The present resource may be derived from the Source resource in whole or part.
Engages in sloppy bundlingType: The nature or genre of the content of the resource.
Type includes terms describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for content.
What is ‘content of the resource’?Is the nature of the content distinct from the nature of the
resource?
No taxonomic organization, but rather a tangled hierarchy
No distinction between things (continuants) and processes (occurrents) – consider performance of a work
Goals of a Metadata Ontology• Ability to expand consistently to new application
areas • Ability to gracefully integrate with domain
ontologies and with other IA-related ontologies• Ability to represent metadata of different
categories– Complex application-specific content
• specific ways in which one IA relates to another IA– Content vs. Bearers of content
Requirements to Achieve These Goals
• Conformance to ontology best practices – http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Distributed_
Development_of_a_Shared_Semantic_Resource
– http://techwiki.openstructs.org/index.php/Ontology_Best_Practices
– http://kmi.open.ac.uk/events/iswc07-semantic-web-intro/pdf/5.%20Ontology%20Design.pdf
• Conformance to an upper level ontology as starting point for coherent definitions
• Separation of aspects of an information artifact such as physical bearer, content, content organization
DC Does Not Conform to Best Practices
Term Name: LocationPeriodOrJurisdiction URI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/LocationPeriodOrJurisdictionLabel: Location, Period, or JurisdictionDefinition: A location, period of time, or jurisdiction.
LOCATION PERIOD OR JURISDICTION is defined in the DC hierarchy as a subclass of LOCATION
Does Not Conform to an ULO (cont.)
• In the absence of a high-level single hierarchy, the relations between classes are not clear. For example
• PROVENANCE is defined as “A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation” seems to overlap with CREATOR, CONTRIBUTOR, and IS VERSION OF.
• But how?
Limited Usability of DC• DC does not try to separately address such aspects
of an information artifact as its physical bearer, content, and content organization
• Will not allow for rich explications and annotations of document repositories, in particular repositories of military documents, and for various classifications of documents that are based on the content or bearer
Consequences• These issues will
– Prevent acceptance of DC in solving DoD metadata problems
– Make its future development and integration with other ontologies difficult
– Not allow for deep data integration
IAO is designed to address the need for metadata standards, not by
replacing existing standards,• but rather by providing a single, consistent
framework for tagging (‘semantic enhancement’) of existing data stores
• Its purpose is to provide a uniform, non-redundant, algorithmically processable and easily extendible consensus system of tags
Uses of IAO-Intel – Example 1IA #1: a Modified Combined Obstacle Overlay (MCOO) –product of a joint intelligence preparation of the operational environment used to portray militarily significant features such as obstacles restricting movement, key geography, and military objectivesIA #2 – the plan (document) in accordance with which the IA #1 was prepared
IAO enables three kinds of discovery and analysis
• Annotations to the attributes of IA #1– has-artifact-kind MCOO – has-physical-kind: Acetate Sheet – uses-symbology MIL-STD-2525C– authored-by person #4644
• Annotations linking IA #1 to other IAS– IA#1 output of process realizing plan IA#2
• Annotations relating to the aboutness of IA#1 – Avenue of Approach– Strategic Defense Belt – Amphibious Operations– Objective
Uses of IAO-Intel – Example 2• A collection of documents prepared according
to FM 6-99.2 of kinds:– Intelligence Report [INTREP] – Intelligence Summary [INTSUM]– Logistics Situation Report [LOGSITREP]– Operations Summary [OPSUM] – Patrol Report [PATROLREP]– Reconnaissance Exploitation Report [RECCEXREP]– SAEDA Report [SAEDAREP]
Attributes of Information Artifacts
Attributes of IAs• Information artifacts have attributes along a
number of distinct dimensions, treated in low-level ontology modules
• Terms in these modules will be applied to explicate information relating to IAs of different sorts, and to annotate data pertaining to IA instances
• Attributes of IAs vs. Attributes of subject-matters, targets, topics, …
Attributes of IAs (cont.)• Some dimensions of IA attributes are common
to all areas, both military and non-military – Purpose– Life cycle Stage (draft, finished version, revision)– Language,– Format– Provenance– Source (person, organization)
Generic Attributes of IAs (for IAO)• Purpose
– Descriptive purpose: scientific paper, newspaper article, after-action report
– Prescriptive purpose: legal code, license, statement of rules of engagement
– Directive purpose (of specifying a plan or method for achieving something): instruction, manual, protocol
– Designative purpose: a registry of members of an organization, a phone book, a database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers
• Purposes specific to IAO-Intel– Inform ing the commander,– Providing targeting support– Intelligence preparation of the battlefield.
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Descriptive purpose=def. the purpose of describing some portion of
realityExamples: scientific paper, newspaper article,
diary, experimenter log notebookPrescriptive purpose=def. the purpose of prescribing or permitting or
allowing some activityExamples: a legal code, a license
Purpose of an Information Artifact
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Directive purpose=def. the purpose of specifying a plan or method
for achieving somethingExamples: instruction, manual, recipe, protocolDesignative purpose=def. the purpose of uniquely designating some
entity or the members of some class of entitiesExamples: a registry of members of an
organization, a phone book, a database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers.
Purpose of an Information Artifact
Examples of Intel-Specific Purpose Attributes (IAO-Intel terms created by downward population from
IAO:Purpose)• Informing the commander
Providing targeting supportIntelligence preparation of the battlefield
• Supporting planning and executionDefining the operational environmentDescribing the impact of the operational environmentEvaluating the adversaryDescribing adversary courses of action
• Counter adversary deception • Assess the effects of operations
Attributes of IAs Specific to Intelligence IAsRole in the Intelligence Process (JP 3-0, III-11) Priority Intelligence Requirement (PIR)
Commander’s Critical Information Requirement (CCIR)Essential Element of Information (EEI)
Essential Element of Friendly Information (EEFI)Confidence Level (JP 2.0, Appendix A)
Highly LikelyLikelyEven Chance
UnlikelyHighly Unlikely
Discipline (JP 2.0, I-5)LegalIdeologyReligionPropaganda
IntelligenceSignalHuman Rumor intelligenceWeb intelligence
Intelligence Excellence (JP 2.0, II-6)AnticipatoryTimelyAccurateUsable
CompleteRelevantObjectiveAvailable
IAO-Intel Defined Attributes relating to source of an IA
• Document Source– Organization
• Government Agency – Military Agency – Intelligence Agency
– Personal source• Intelligence agent, bystander, witness …
• Two kinds of source relations:1. between an IA and a source kind2. between an IA and a source instance (e.g. some
specific intelligence agency, some specific person)
Other IAO-Intel Attribute DimensionsRole in the Intelligence Process (JP 3-0, III-11) Priority Intelligence Requirement (PIR)
Commander’s Critical Information Requirement (CCIR)Essential Element of Information (EEI)
Essential Element of Friendly Information (EEFI)Confidence Level (JP 2.0, Appendix A)
Highly LikelyLikelyEven Chance
UnlikelyHighly Unlikely
Discipline (JP 2.0, I-5)LegalIdeologyReligionPropaganda
IntelligenceSignalHuman Rumor intelligenceWeb intelligence
Intelligence Excellence (JP 2.0, II-6)AnticipatoryTimelyAccurateUsable
CompleteRelevantObjectiveAvailable
Other IAO-Intel Attribute Dimensions• Classification
– Unclassified, open source– Secret– Top Secret
• Level– Strategic– Operational– Tactical
• Encryption Status• Encryption Strength
Strategy for Building IAO-Intel• Incremental expansion; the ontology is planned to
include artifacts spanning the entire range of IAs, from authoritative data sources to unprocessed reports
• Identify orthogonal dimensions of IA attributes and create Low-Level Ontology modules (LLOs)– Small, shallow, and structured following the principle of
single inheritance– Used to
• Construct more complex terms and define IAO terms• Explicate the meanings of terms standardly used by
different agencies• Annotate instance data
IAO and BFO
BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant
BFO: Independent Continuant
BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant
Information Content
Entity (ICE)
Information Quality Entity
(Pattern) (IQE)
Information Structure
Entity (ISE)
Information Bearing
Entity (IBE)
IA IBE ISE ICE
MS Word file (.doc, .docx)
Hard drive (magnetized sector) MS Word format Varies
KML file Hard drive (magnetized sector) KML Map overlay
JPEG file (.jpg) Hard drive (magnetized sector) JPEG format Image
Email file Hard drive (magnetized sector)
Internet Message Format (e.g., RFC 5322 compliant) Message
USMTF Message file
A specific government network USMTF Format Message
PassportPaper document; (may include photographs, RFID tags)
ID formats, security marking formats …
Name, Personal data, Passport number, Visas
Title Deed Official paper document Varies Varies
Report Varies Varies Varies
Overlay Sheet( e.g. Map Overlay Sheet)
Acetate sheetMIL-STD-2525 Symbols; FM 101-1-5 Operational Terms and Graphics
Map overlay
IAO-Intel Email Ontology
Information Artifact Ontology (IAO)
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
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BFO roots
More than 100 Ontology projects using BFOhttp://www.ifomis.org/bfo/users
Users of BFOExamples
AIRS OntologiescROP OntologiesMilPortal OntologiesNIF Standard OntologiesOBO Foundry OntologiesOAE Ontology of Adverse EventsEnvO Emotion Ontology IDO Infectious Disease Ontology (NIAID)US Army Biometrics Ontology
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Basic Formal Ontology
ContinuantOccurrent
process(copying a file to
another computer)IndependentContinuant
thing(hard drive, camera, …)
DependentContinuant
quality(color,
shape, …) .... ..... .......
universals
instances
Occurrents depend on participantsinstances
this bombing on 15 May that insurgency attack on 5 April
occurrent kindsbombingattack
participant kindsexplosive deviceterrorist group
Basic Formal Ontology
Continuant Occurrent
processIndependentContinuant
thing
DependentContinuant
quality
.... ..... .......quality dependson bearer
Blinding Flash of the Obvious
Continuant Occurrent
process, eventIndependentContinuant
thing
DependentContinuant
quality, …
.... ..... .......event dependson participant
Continuant Occurrent
IndependentContinuant
DependentContinuant
Quality
DispositionProcessRole
Realizable DependentContinuant
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located near
Latrine
Well
‘VT 334 569’
Distance Measurement
Result
Village Name
‘Khanabad Village’
Village
is_a
instance_of
Geopolitical Entity
Spatial Region
GeographicCoordinates
Setdesignates
instance_of
located in
instance_of
has location designates
has location
instance_of
instance_of
’16 meters’
instance_of
measurement_of
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Universals and Instances (from Bill Mandrick)
Specifically Dependent Continuant
SpecificallyDependentContinuant
Quality, Role, Disposition
Realizable Dependent Continuant
if any bearer ceases to exist, then the quality or function ceases to exist
the color of my skin
the function of my heart
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Specifically Dependent Continuant
Red color of my skin
You Me
Accidens non migrat de subjecto in subjectum.Accidents do not migrate from one substance to another
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Red color of your skin
depends_on depends_on
Generically Dependent Continuant
GenericallyDependentContinuant
pdf filejpg file
Gene Sequence
if one bearer ceases to exist, then the entity can survive, because there are other bearers
(copyability)
the pdf file on my laptop
the DNA (sequence) in this chromosome
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Information artifacts
pdf fileemailpoemsymphonyalgorithmsymbol
– can migrate from one information bearer to another
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Continuant
IndependentContinuant
Specifically DependentContinuant
Quality
Disposition
Information Artifact
Role
Realizable DependentContinuant
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GenericallyDependentContinuant
Gene Sequence
Continuant
IndependentContinuant
Specifically DependentContinuant
Quality Information Artifact
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GenericallyDependentContinuant
Gene Sequence
Material Entity
Information Bearing
Entity
Continuant
IndependentContinuant
Specifically DependentContinuant
QualityInformation
Artifact
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GenericallyDependentContinuant
Material Entity
Information Bearing
Entity (yourhard drive
Information Quality Entity (pattern on
your hard drive)
depends_on
Continuant
IndependentContinuant
Specifically DependentContinuant
Quality Information Artifact
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GenericallyDependentContinuant
Material Entity
Information Bearing
Entity
Information QualityEntity
depends_on concretized_by
IAO: information content entity=def. an entity that is generically dependent on some artifact and stands in the relation of aboutness to some entity
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Shimon Edelman’s Riddle of Representation
two humans, a monkey, and a robotare looking at a piece of cheese;
what is common to the representational processes in their visual systems?
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Answer:
The cheese, of course
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The real cheese
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Each IA is concretized_by at least one IQE (Information Quality Entity)
The same IA can be concretized in multiple different media (paper, silicon, neuron …)
Concretization
Generically dependent continuants such as plans, laws …
are concretized in specifically dependent continuants(the plan in your head, the protocol being realized by your research team, the law being implemented by this government agency)
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Types and tokens
A A A
One type, three tokensA type is a pattern
Patterns can be complex83
fragment of the War and Peace pattern
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War and Peace is an instance of the universal novel
SpecificallyDependentContinuant
War and Peace quality
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IndependentContinuant
This bound copy of
War and Peace
GenericallyDependentContinuant
The novelWar and Peace
instance_of instance_of instance_of
depends_on
concretized_by
Is War and Peace a kind or an instance?If War and Peace were a kind, and the copies of War and Peace in my library and in your library were instances, then
• there would be many War(s) and Peaces.
Hence War and Peace is an instance.
What is a work of literature?
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There can be two copies of the US Declaration of Independence
There cannot be two US Declarations of Independence
There cannot be subkinds of the US Declaration of Independence
Hence the US Declaration of Independent is an instance and not a kind.
There are not two Declarations of Independence
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Rule for universals
Their names are pluralizable
There can be three peopleThere cannot be three Michelle Obamas.
Information Content Entities are GDCs = entities which can exist in many copies
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they have a different kind of provenance
◦Aspirin as product of Bayer GmbH◦aspirin as molecular structure◦This Financial Report is submitted to the
SEC
Generically dependent continuants are distinct from universals
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IAO and BFO
BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant
BFO: Independent Continuant
BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant
Information Content
Entity (ICE)
Information Quality Entity
(Pattern) (IQE)
Information Structure
Entity (ISE)
Information Bearing
Entity (IBE)
Information Content Entities (ICEs)• ICEs are about something in reality (they have
this something as a subject; they represent, or mention or describe this something; they inform us about this something).
• Aboutness may be identifiable from different perspectives. Thus one analyst may interpret a given ICE as being about the geography of a given encampment; another may view it as providing information about the morale of those encamped there.
Information Bearing Entities – IBEs• An IBE is a material entity that has been
created to serve as a bearer of information. IBEs are either (1) self-sufficient material wholes, or (2) proper material parts of such wholes.
• Examples under (1): a hard drive, a paper printout (e.g., a report)
• Examples under (2): a specific sector on a hard drive, a single page of a paper printout.
Information Quality Entities (IQEs)
• An IQE is the pattern on an IBE in virtue of which it is a bearer of some information
• An IQE exists in a given IBE because of a certain patterned arrangement for example of ink or other chemicals, or of electromagnetic excitations.
• Every ICE is concretized by at least one IQE
Information Structure Entities (ISEs)
• Information Structure Entity (ISE) is a structural part of an ICE, for example an empty cell in a spread sheet; or a blank Microsoft Word file. ISEs thus capture part of what is involved when we talk about the ‘format’ of an IA.
Organization of IAO-Intel – IA‘IA’ refers either
– to some combination of ICEs and ISEs (roughly: the IA as body of copyable information content); or
– to some concreti zation of ICEs and ISEs in some IBE in which some IQE inheres (the information artifact is: this content here and now, on this specific computer screen or this printed page).
Different information artifact kinds will differ in different ways along these dimensions, as illustrated in Table 2.
IA IBE ISE ICE
MS Word file (.doc, .docx)
Hard drive (magnetized sector) MS Word format Varies
KML file Hard drive (magnetized sector) KML Map overlay
JPEG file (.jpg) Hard drive (magnetized sector) JPEG format Image
Email file Hard drive (magnetized sector)
Internet Message Format (e.g., RFC 5322 compliant) Message
USMTF Message file
A specific government network USMTF Format Message
PassportPaper document; (may include photographs, RFID tags)
ID formats, security marking formats …
Name, Personal data, Passport number, Visas
Title Deed Official paper document Varies Varies
Report Varies Varies Varies
Overlay Sheet( e.g. Map Overlay Sheet)
Acetate sheetMIL-STD-2525 Symbols; FM 101-1-5 Operational Terms and Graphics
Map overlay
IAO and BFO
BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant
BFO: Independent Continuant
BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant
Information Content
Entity (ICE)
Information Quality Entity
(Pattern) (IQE)
Information Structure
Entity (ISE)
Information Bearing
Entity (IBE)
IAO and BFO (cont.)
• BFO relations between ICEs, ISEs, IQEs and IBEs can be set forth as follows:– ICE generically-depends-on IBE– ISE generically-depends-on IBE– IQE specifically-depends-on IBE– ICE concretized-by IQE– ISE concretized-by IQE
• IAO contains in addition relations which allow to formulate metadata concerning attributes of IAs such as author, creation date, classification status, and so forth