Basic Taxonomic Structures and Levels of Abstraction

Authors

  • Marta J. Fernandez
  • Caroline M. Eastman

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7152/acro.v1i1.12464

Abstract

Taxonomic knowledge structures are often used to organize information. We compare basic taxonomic structures in four areas: thesaurus construction in information retrieval, semantic data models in database management systems, semantic networks in artificial intelligence, and mental structures in cognitive psychology. We then discuss levels of abstraction, in panicular the importance of intermediate levels. In mental structures these turn out to be basic levels that are more important cognitively than higher or lower levels. We explore the role of abstraction levels in other taxonomic structures and suggest possible future research in this area.

Downloads

Published

1990-10-06

Issue

1st 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).