Ontology Modelling and Standardized Information Exchange with Content Delivery Applications in Technical Communication

Abstract

Ontologies are a technology recently used in technical communication (TC) to model information into a multidimensional net. They expand the modelling by taxonomy of metadata in TC. Any kind of relation between multiple classes and instances can be established. These ontologies can appear in the form of semantic correlation rules (SCR), which represent the connection between the metadata of the objects. SCR are used in connection with component content management systems (CCMS), semantic modelling systems (SMS) and content delivery portals (CDP) to deliver the appropriate amount of content in a more precise manner to the end user. In general, Ontology tools, CCMS and CDP are not based on the same ecosystem and therefore, they do not always work together effortlessly. A solution to this problem are exchange formats like the intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard (iiRDS), which enable a standardized information exchange between supported systems. Another solution would be compound information systems (CIS) like ONTOLIS, which combine a CCMS, CDP and SMS all in one. This paper aims to investigate the effect of SCR in the CDP of a CIS like ONTOLIS and to evaluate the use of exchange formats like iiRDS.