Ontology

Ontology, according to the dictionary, is the study of being. Organizational ontology - a map of relationships between words spoken in the organization: that is, the world of terminology and the relationships between them.

The words themselves, which are the professional organizational jargon, are called taxonomy.

The ontology is a connection of all words to groups. These groups represent characteristics, values, and the relationships between these groups.

For example: "The bank offered monthly savings plans as an alternative to purchasing stocks, both to private customers and to business customers."

The taxonomy: monthly savings plans, stocks, private customer, business customer.

The ontology links stocks and monthly savings plans in the "Savings Channel" group, and private and business accounts are linked in the "Customer Type" group.

How does ontology help knowledge management?

1. Building navigation trees (knowledge trees) based on ontology

2. Setting search parameters that focus the search based on the ontology

3. Terminology dictionaries and organizational expert maps based on ontology

For additional information, see: What is an Ontology? And Why We Need Them

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