Experience in Social Knowledge Construction Based on Computerized Ontological Methods

Abstract

In this article, the problems of creating tools for the collective description of social processes are discussed. Demonstrated are the pros and cons of using natural language as a tool for generating such a description. Analyzed are the benefits of a new graphic context-oriented approach (GCO) to knowledge management, which allows creating and integrating knowledge arising within various levels of social communication. Shown are the merits of GCO methods as an instrument helping ordinary participants describe social processes in natural-language terms: they are intuitive to non-specialists; any amount of knowledge can be represented structurally in the form of graphs composed of natural language designations; it is possible to control the coherence of the analytical representation of knowledge expressed in natural language; finally, it is possible to connect the results of different conceptualizations into an algorithm. The practical advantages of GCO methods are analyzed based on examples of conceptualizing texts with varying content.