A Fuzzy Ontology Framework for Customized Assessment of Semantic Similarity

Abstract

The ability to estimate semantic similarity between entities in a meaningful way suiting the needs of a specific application is crucial for the success of any information system build using ontologies. As a result, ontology reutilization to this day has been limited, with most systems being accompanied by ontologies perfectly customized for the system's needs. In this work, we define "ontology application context'' which allows us to separate the parts of the ontology that are general from those that need to be altered to fit a specific application's needs. Using this framework the same ontologies can be used in different situations, each time properly contextualized to the task in hand.