Copyright © 2015-2029 DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute (Bangalore, India)
For any queries, contact Dr. Biswanath Dutta at bisu@drtc.isibang.ac.in, or at dutta2005@gmail.com
This specification desctibes MOD, a metadata vocabulary to describe and publish ontologies. The vocabulary is consisted of a set of classes and properties and is designed using W3C's RDF technology.
Note:This document is under progress, hence the document will be updated from time to time.
The "owl" file of MOD Ontology (v1.0, r0.1) along with an example is available at: http://www.isibang.ac.in/~bisu/ontology/mod-ontology-31Jul2015.owl
Ontology is an important artifact in the Semantic Web applications. Today, there is an enormous number of ontologies available on the Web. Even then, finding and identifying the right ontology is not that easy. This is because the majority of the ontologies are either not
described or described with a general purpose metadata vocabulary like, Dublin Core. On the other hand, ontology construction, irrespective of its types (e.g., general ontology, domain ontology, application ontology), is an expensive affair both in terms of human resources and
other infrastructural resources. Hence, the ideal situation would be to reuse the existing ontologies to reduce the development effort and cost, and also to improve the quality of the original ontology.
MOD provides a set of terms which can be used by the ontology libraries (e.g., ontology registry, ontology repository, ontology portal), and in general by the Web developers to describe and publish the ontologies. The enriched description of ontologies, in turn, will help the users to search, discover, identify and select the required ontologies. This ultimately will promote the reuse of ontologies.
The MOD terms are standardised by using equivalent terms that are available in the existing metadata standards. The metadata standards that we have used for this purpose are Friend Of A Friend (FOAF) , Dublin Core (DC), and Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS). This way, MOD not only standardizes the vocabulary, but it also becomes part of the global initiative. This approach also ensures interoperability among the software programs.
The XML Namespace URI that must be used by implementations of this specification is: http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#
The suggested prefix for the namespace is "mod" to be used by implementations of this specification:
The following are the prefixes and XML Namespaces for the external metadata vocabularies used in MOD.
An alphabetical index of terms from the Metadata for Ontology Description and Publication (MOD), by class and by property, are given below. All the terms are hyperlinked to their detailed description for quick reference.
Classes: | Agent | Domain | FileFormat | KnowledgeRepresentationFormalism | LevelOfFormality | License | Ontology | OntologyDesignLanguage | OntologyDesignMethodology | OntologyDesignTool | OntologySyntax | OntologyType | Organisation | Person | Project
Object Properties: | contributor | creator | endorsedBy | evaluatedBy | formalityLevel | format | knowledgeRepresentationFormalism | license | methodologyUsed | module | ontologyLanguage | ontologyInUse | sourceOntology | sponsoredBy | subject | syntax | toolUsed | type
Data Properties: | accessibility | acronym | address | altLabel | classes | competencyQuestion | creationDate | country | description | document | firstName | homepage | identifier | keyword | lastName | mbox | name | noOfAxioms | noOfIndividuals | noOfProperties | state | phone | pin | size | status | street | version | vocabularyUsed
A resource that acts or has the power to act. Example of Agents include person and organization.
identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Agent | |
---|---|---|
Data properties include: | address country description document homepage mbox phone pin street | |
Has Subclass: | Organisation Person |
An agent corresponding to social institutions such as companies, associations, etc., that has a collective goal.
identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Orgaisation |
---|---|
Data properties include: | acronym address country description document homepage firstName mbox name phone pin street |
Subclass of: | Agent |
A human being (alive, dead, undead, real or imaginary).
identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person |
---|---|
Data properties include: | address country description document homepage firstName lastName mbox phone pin street |
Subclass of: | Agent |
An area of knowledge or a flield of study that an ontology deals with. For example, Gene ontology, Movie onotology, Fishery ontology and Food ontology.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#Domain |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A file format of an ontology. For example .rdf, .owl, .xml, etc.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#FileFormat |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A representation formalism that is followed to describe knowledge in an ontology. Example includes description logics, first order logic, etc.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#KnowledgeRepresentationFormalism |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
The degree or level of formality of an ontology. The level of formality varies from Rigorously formal, Semiformal, Informal, and Semiinformal.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#LevelOfFormality |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A legal document giving official permission to do something with an ontology. Example includes Apache license, Creative Commons Attribution License, GNU General Public License and GPL.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#Lincense |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A knowledge representation language using which an ontology is written. For example, RDFS, OWL, Ontolingua and Loom.
Language in which the ontology is made, e.g Web Ontology Language 2DL
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#OntologyDesignLanguage |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A method(s) by which an ontology is created. Example includes Methontology, Tove, Cyc and YAMO.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#OntologyDesignMethodology |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A tool that is used to create an ontology. Example includes Protege, OntoEdit, TopBraid, etc. and animals.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#OntologyDesignTool |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
A syntax that is used to implement an ontology. Example includes RDF/XML, Notation3, n-triples, RDFa and Turtle.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#OntologySyntax |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
The kind of an ontology. Example includes Upper ontology, Domain Ontology, Application Ontology and Task ontology.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#OntologyType |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
Any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted.
identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#Project |
---|---|
Data properties include: | name altLabel acronym description document |
An agent who has contributed in making an ontology.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/contributor |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Agent |
The creator of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/creator |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Agent |
An ontology endorsed by an agent.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#endorsedBy |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Agent |
An ontology that is evaluated by an agent.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#evaluatedBy |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Agent |
The level of formality of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#fomalityLevel |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | LevelOfFormality |
The file format of an ontological resource.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/format |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | FileFormat |
A knowledge representation formalism (e.g., description logics, first order logic) followed to create an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#knowledgeRepresentationFormalism |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
range: | KnowledgeRepresentationFormalism |
A license under which an ontology is published.
Identifier: | http:http://purl.org/dc/terms/#license |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | License |
A methodolgy follwoing which an ontology is created.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#methodologyUsed |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | OntologyDesignMethodology |
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#module |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Ontology |
A language that is used to create an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#ontologyDesignLanguage |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | OntologyDesginLanguage |
An ontology that is used in a project.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#ontologyInUse |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Project |
The ontology(ies) referred to while creating the present ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#sourceOntology |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Ontology |
An ontology that is sponsored by and developed under a project.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#sponsoredBy |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Project |
The subject or the topic of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/subject |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | Domain |
The syntax followed in the creation of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#syntax |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | OntologySyntax |
The tool used for the creation of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#toolUsed |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | OntologyDesignTool |
The nature or genre of the resource.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/type |
---|---|
Domain: | Ontology |
Range: | OntologyType |
Information on access (i.e., read, download) to an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#accessibility |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:string |
A word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name and pronounced as one word.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#acronym |
---|---|
Domain: | owl:Thing |
Range: | xsd:string |
The address of an agent.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#address |
---|---|
Has Sub-property: | country pin state street |
Domain: | mod:Agent |
Range: | xsd:string |
The address of an agent.
Identifier: | http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#altlabel |
---|---|
Domain: | owl:Thing |
Range: | xsd:string |
A set of questions made to build an ontology at the design time.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#competencyQuestion |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:string |
The country name.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#country |
---|---|
Sub property of: | address |
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:string |
The release date of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#creationDate |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:dateTime |
A statement that represents something in words. It is the act of describing something. The description can include, for instance, the purpose of a thing, the scope, the area of applications of a thing, the history, etc.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description |
---|---|
Domain: | owl:Thing |
Range: | xsd:string |
A link to the documentation page on a thing.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#document |
---|---|
Domain: | owl:Thing |
Range: | xsd:anyURI |
The first name of a person.
Identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/firstName |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Person |
Range: | xsd:string |
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#homepage |
---|---|
Domain: | owl:Thing |
Range: | xsd:anyURI |
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/identifier |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:anyURI |
A keyword(s) is used to describe the content of an ontology. Keywords are basically uncontrolled and author defined words. Multiple entries in a keywords list are typically delimited by commas.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#keyword |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:string |
The natural language of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/language |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:string |
The email address of an agent.
Identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/lastName |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Person |
Range: | xsd:string |
The email address of an agent.
Identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/mbox |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Agent |
Range: | xsd:string |
The name for some thing.
Identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name |
---|---|
Domain: | owl:Thing |
Range: | xsd:string |
The total number of axioms in an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#noOfAxioms |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:positiveInteger |
The total number of classes in an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#altlabel |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:positiveInteger |
The total number of individuals in an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#noOfIndividuals |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:positiveInteger |
The total number of properties in an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#noOfProperties |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:positiveInteger |
A phone, specified using fully qualified telelephone number.
Identifier: | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/phone |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Agent |
Range: | xsd:long |
A pin code.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#pin |
---|---|
Sub property of: | address |
Domain: | mod:Agent |
Range: | xsd:string |
The size of an ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#size |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:double |
The state or the province name.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#state |
---|---|
Sub property of: | address |
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | string |
The status of an released ontology (i.e. whether completed or an intermediated version, authorized or not, etc.)
Identifier: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/status |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | string |
The street address.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#street |
---|---|
Sub property of: | address |
Domain: | mod:Agent |
Range: | xsd:string |
The version of the released ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#version |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:Double |
A vocabulary(ies) that is used and/or referred to create the current ontology.
Identifier: | http://www.isibang.ac.in/ns/mod#vocabularyUsed |
---|---|
Domain: | mod:Ontology |
Range: | xsd:string |
MOD is not to replace/ compete with any other existing metadata vocabularies for describing ontologies. Instead it can be seen as a complementary to the others, if any.