More about the Project

Start date: 1 June 2007
End date: 31 March 2009

Aim

The project aim is to develop a tool, ART, based on a generic ontology of experiments EXPO to assist in:

• Translating scientific papers into format with an explicit semantics
• Explicit linking of repository papers to data and metadata
• Creation of an example intelligent digital repository.

The proposal is to use the semantically rich and the theoretically sound generic EXPO representation of scientific experiments to provide metadata and to annotate papers stored in digital repositories. An ontology-based tool, ART, will be developed to automate the process of translating the papers into the proposed semantic format.

Background

EXPO is a general ontology of scientific experiments (Soldatova & King, 2006). This ontology is designed to structure the formal annotation of scientific experiments. Annotation is required to promote the sharing of results within and between subjects, and to reduce the duplication and loss of knowledge. It also facilitates text mining and knowledge discovery applications.

At present, EXPO is only a general framework for annotation. It still requires ontological expertise to use it for annotation. We propose to develop a practical annotation tool, based on EXPO, which can be used to add value to repository papers and data.

Benefits

This project will provide a range of benefits to JISC, and the wider scientific and Higher Education community. The project will create a tool for papers annotation and representing them in semantic machine readable format. This will be beneficial to various digital repositories to enhance searching facilities, and add value to scientific digital repositories through better knowledge/ data representation, greater knowledge reuse and sharing, and facilitate advanced computer applications.

Use of an ontology based format for representing scientific texts will help to enable access to the stored knowledge and data. This will reduce duplication, redundancy and inconsistency in existing repositories, and so save research resources and make science more cost effective. Ontologies as detailed and precise description of domains are also a valuable resource for education and training. We envisage ontology based formats being an essential component of e-Science by providing unified standards.