Exploring the Development and Maintenance Practices in the Gene Ontology

Authors

  • Shuheng Wu School of Library & Information Studies, Florida State University
  • Besiki Stvilia School of Library & Information Studies, Florida State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7152/acro.v24i1.14675

Abstract

The Gene Ontology (GO) is one of the most widely used and successful bio-ontologies in biomedicine and molecular biology. What is special about GO as a knowledge organization (KO) system is its collaborative development and maintenance practices, involving diverse communities in collectively developing the Ontology and controlling its quality. Guided by Activity Theory and a theoretical Information Quality Assessment Framework, this study conducts qualitative content analysis of GO’s curation discussions. The study found that GO has developed various tools and mechanisms to gain expert feedback and engage various communities in developing and maintaining the Ontology in an efficient and less expensive way. The findings of this study can inform KO system designers, curators, and ontologists in establishing functional requirements and quality assurance infrastructure for bioontologies and formulating best practices for ontology development.

Downloads

Published

2014-01-09

Issue

24th ASIS SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop

Section

Papers

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).