Knowledge organization system explained

Knowledge organization system (KOS), concept system or concept scheme is the generic term used in knowledge organization for the selection of concepts with an indication of selected semantic relations.^[1] Despite their differences in type, coverage and application, all KOS aim to support the organization of knowledge and information to facilitate their management and retrieval.

KOS can be represented in can be expressed in RDF and RDFS as per the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) recommendation by W3C, which aims to enable the sharing and linking of KOS via the Web.^[2]

Many lists of KOS exist with BARTOC being the largest and most general one.

Examples

Examples of knowledge organization systems include:

• classification systems and schemes
• lists of subject headings
• authority files
• thesauri
• topic maps
• controlled vocabularies
• ontologies
• other systems of metadata

See also

• Library and information science
• Library classification

References

1. Hjørland, Birger. 2016. Knowledge organization. Knowledge Organization 43, no. 6: 475-84. Also available in Hjørland, Birger, ed. ISKO Encyclopedia of Knowledge Organization, https://www.isko.org/cyclo/knowledge_organization.
2. Web site: Alistair . Miles . Bechhofer . Sean . 18 August 2009 . SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System, W3C Recommendation .

• Hodge, G. (2000). Systems of Knowledge Organization for Digital libraries. Beyond traditional authority files. Washington, DC: the Council on Library and Information Resources. http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub91/contents.html
• Tudhope, D. & Lykke Nielsen, M. (2006). Introduction to special issue: Knowledge Organization Systems and Services. New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 12(1), 3-9. http://www.journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/media/m35eac0c7l6wvk510nr7/contributions/r/0/7/7/r077564631920800.pdf
• Zeng, M. L. & Chan, L. M. (2004). Trends and issues in establishing interoperability among knowledge organization systems. Journal for the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(5), 377-395.
• Networked Knowledge Organization Systems/Services NKOS: http://nkos.slis.kent.edu/

External links

• Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS)†