ConferenceCall 2008 12 04

= Joint OOR-Ontolog Panel Discussion Session - Thu 04-Dec-2008 =


 * Subject: Ontology Registry and Repository Technology & Infrastructure Landscape - II


 * Session co-chairs:
 * Dr. Paul Buitelaar (DFKI, Germany) &
 * Mr. Peter Yim (Ontolog; CIM3)


 * Panelists:
 * Dr. Mathieu d'Aquin (KMi, Open University, UK) - "Watson: A Semantic Web Gateway, and Towards a Decentralized Ontology Repository"
 * Mr. Matthew Horridge (University of Manchester, UK) - "The TONES Ontology Repository"
 * Dr. Paul Buitelaar (DFKI, Germany) - " OntoSelect : A Browser and Search Engine for Ontologies"


 * Archive:
 * slides: . [ 1-d'Aquin ] . [ 2-Horridge ] . [ 3-Buitelaar ]
 * audio recording of the session (mp3)
 * transcript of the online chat during the panel discussion

Conference Call Details

 * Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008 
 * Start Time: 10:30am PST / 1:30pm EST / 7:30pm CET / 18:30 UTC
 * see world clock for other time zones
 * Expected Call Duration: 2.0 hours
 * Dial-in Numbers:
 * from a US telephone (US): +1-218-486-3600
 * use Conference ID: "4389979#"
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 * callers from other countries please dial into either one of the US or European numbers


 * Shared-screen support (VNC session), if applicable, will be started 5 minutes before the call at: http://vnc2.cim3.net:5800/
 * view-only password: "ontolog"
 * if you plan to be logging into this shared-screen option (with which slide advances and other screen navigation will be supported), and you are not familiar with the process, please try to call in 5 minutes before the start of the session so that we can work out the connection logistics. Help on this will generally not be available once the presentation starts.
 * people behind corporate firewalls may have difficulty accessing this. If that is the case, please download the slides below and running them locally. The speaker(s) will prompt you to advance the slides during the talk.


 * Please review our Virtual Session Tips and Ground Rules - see: VirtualSpeakerSessionTips
 * see below regarding our in-session Q & A process


 * RSVP to [mailto:peter.yim@cim3.com peter.yim@cim3.com] appreciated.


 * This session, like all other Ontolog events, is open to the public. Information relating to this session is shared on this wiki page: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ConferenceCall_2008_12_04


 * Please note that this session will be recorded, and the archive is expected to be made available as open content to our community membership and the public at-large under our prevailing open IPR policy.

Attendees

 * Attendees & Registered Participants:
 * PaulBuitelaar
 * MathieuDaquin
 * MatthewHorridge
 * PeterYim
 * KurtConrad
 * DeniseBedford
 * EdDodds
 * MitchRinger
 * Yung S Kim (Boeing)
 * Helen Chen (Agfa HealthCare )
 * ElgarPichler
 * Zhenning Shangguan (RPI/TWC)
 * Daniel Redmond (Information International Associates)
 * CarlosRueda (MBARI/MMI)
 * Thomas Russ (USC/ISI)
 * Gully Burns (USC/ISI)
 * BobGreen (US DON CIO)
 * Stuart Turner (UC Davis)
 * RobFrost ( VectorC )
 * TedBashor ( VectorC )
 * TomEskridge
 * HalaSkaf-Molli
 * RexBrooks
 * RamSriram (only able to make the first hour, though)
 * AdrianWalker
 * Tom Caruso (NIH/CIT; SRA International)
 * Jack Ring (Kennen Technologies)
 * MikeBennett
 * BrandNiemann
 * SyamaChaudhuri
 * GaryBergCross
 * HaroldSolbrig
 * Larry Lefkowitz (Cycorp)
 * Daniel Sonntag (DFKI, Germany)
 * Seba Jean-Baptiste (Idaho National Lab (INL) Research Library)
 * BijanParsia (University of Manchester)
 * Trish Whetzel (Stanford/BMIR)
 * ReginaldFord (SRI International)
 * ... to register for participation, please add your name (plus your affiliation, if you aren't already a member of the community) above, or e-mail  so that we can reserve enough resources to support everyone's participation. ...
 * ... to register for participation, please add your name (plus your affiliation, if you aren't already a member of the community) above, or e-mail  so that we can reserve enough resources to support everyone's participation. ...


 * Regrets:
 * LeoObrst
 * MikeDean
 * KatherineGoodier
 * PatCassidy
 * ToddSchneider
 * RaviSharma
 * Suzy Tonini (Deloitte)

Background
Two parallel initiatives were started in the ontology community in 2008 that revolved around the theme of "Open Ontology Repository." On the one hand, an ongoing working group under the auspices of the OpenOntologyRepository Initiative, and on the other, the discourse (and essentially a virtual discussion that culminated in a two-day workshop) conducted as the main focus for OntologySummit2008 (which took place back in Jan~Apr. 2008.)

While the OpenOntologyRepository working group continues to focus on implementation activities, it is recognized that there is a need for continued dialog, discourse, exchange of ideas and collaboration. It is with the latter in mind, that this Joint OOR-Ontolog Panel Series is conceived. KenBaclawski, PaulBuitelaar, MikeDean, MichelleRaymond and PeterYim have stepped up to the plate to co-champion this series of virtual panel discussions and related activities. We hope this will provide a platform for sharing ideas among colleagues who are working on related projects, threshing out research and development issues, and exploring opportunities for collaboration and synergy.

Agenda & Proceedings:

 * This is the first of the joint OOR-Ontolog panel series which follows the pattern of the very successful panel discussion sessions we had in the Spring of 2008. Again, We are attempting to bring together some of the world's top experts who have done pertinent work in this area to participate in this panel discussion sessions. Besides hearing from the panelists, we are setting aside ample time (~30 minutes) after their briefings, for some good Q&A and discussions among all who will be participating in this sessions.


 * Session Format: this is a virtual session conducted over an augmented conference call.


 * Agenda:
 * 1. Opening by the Session co-chair - PaulBuitelaar / PeterYim
 * 2. we'll go around with a self-introduction of participants (~15 minutes) - All - we'll skip this if we have more than 25 participants (in which case, it will be best if members try to update their namesake pages on this wiki prior to the call so that everyone can get to know who's who more easily.)
 * 3. Panelists' Briefings (upto 25 min. each) - MathieuDaquin, MatthewHorridge, PaulBuitelaar
 * 5. Q & A and Open discussion by all participants (~30 minutes) - All, via the conference call and the IM chat session.
 * 6. Summary / Conclusion / Follow-up-actions by the Session co-chairs - PaulBuitelaar / PeterYim

Topic: Ontology Registry and Repository Technology & Infrastructure Landscape - II
Abstract:

Our first panel session surveying the Ontology Registry and Repository Technology & Infrastructure Landscape took place at ConferenceCall_2008_02_28.

This session (ConferenceCall_2008_12_04) continues that pursuit and presents more of the state of the art in ontology repositories. Those work are represented here by Mathieu d'Aquin of the Knowledge Media Institute in the UK (http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/mathieu/) on the Watson semantic web search engine (http://watson.kmi.open.ac.uk/WatsonWUI/), by Matthew Horridge of Manchester University in the UK (http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~horridgm/) on the TONES Ontology Repository (http://owl.cs.manchester.ac.uk/repository/browser) and by Paul Buitelaar of DFKI in Germany (http://www.dfki.de/~paulb/) on the OntoSelect ontology library (http://olp.dfki.de/ontoselect).

Panelists' Presentation Titles and Abstracts:

. Watson: A Semantic Web Gateway, and Towards a Decentralized Ontology Repository - Mathieu d'Aquin

 * Watson (http://watson.kmi.open.ac.uk) is an online, open system acting like a Semantic Web search engine: it crawls the Web to find ontologies and document encoding information using Semantic Web languages, indexes this information and makes it available through sophisticated search and querying mechanisms. However, more than a simple interface for keyword search, Watson is a Gateway to the Semantic Web, as it provides high level, efficient and robust services for developers to build applications dynamically finding, selecting and exploiting Semantic Web ontologies. In this presentation, I will report on our experience in developing the Watson gateway, as well as in interacting with application developers in need for such an infrastructure to make use of the growing Semantic Web. Looking into the future, I will also discuss how we are moving from Watson as a centralized access point to the Semantic Web, towards a distributed system to which users can contribute with their own ontologies, creating personal, online ontology spaces for others to discuss, and more importantly, to reuse.

. The TONES Ontology Repository - MatthewHorridge

 * This talk will present the TONES ontology repository. The motivation for the repository will be discussed and the main features of the repository will be presented.


 * see: http://owl.cs.manchester.ac.uk/repository/browser

. OntoSelect : A Browser and Search Engine for Ontologies - PaulBuitelaar

 * OntoSelect is a dynamic web-based ontology library that harvests, analyzes and organizes ontologies published on the Semantic Web. OntoSelect allows searching as well as browsing of ontologies according to size (number of classes, properties), representation format (DAML, RDFS, OWL), connectedness (score over the number of included and referring ontologies) and human languages used for class- and object property-labels. Ontology search in OntoSelect is based on a combined measure of coverage, structure and connectedness. Further, and in contrast to other ontology search engines, OntoSelect provides ontology search based on a complete web document instead of one or more keywords only.

Resources

 * Our panel's prepared slides can be accessed by clicking on each of the title links below:
 * [ 1-d'Aquin ] - http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OOR-Ontolog-Panel/2008-12-04_Ontology-Repository-Landscape-II/Watson--MathieuDaquin_20081204.ppt
 * [ 2-Horridge ] - http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OOR-Ontolog-Panel/2008-12-04_Ontology-Repository-Landscape-II/TONES--MatthewHorridge_20081204.pdf
 * [ 3-Buitelaar ] - http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OOR-Ontolog-Panel/2008-12-04_Ontology-Repository-Landscape-II/OntoSelect--PaulBuitelaar_20081204.pdf


 * additional resources:
 * The OpenOntologyRepository Initiative
 * OntologySummit2008 ... and its Commuique
 * Ontology Repository State-of-Art: Take-I: 2008_02_28 - Thursday: Joint OOR-OntologySummit2008 Panel Discussion: "Ontology Registry and Repository Technology &amp; Infrastructure Landscape" - Co-chairs: LeoObrst &amp; FrankOlken; Panelists: BruceBargmeyer, MikeDean, MarkMusen, FarrukhNajmi &amp; PeterYim - ConferenceCall_2008_02_28
 * (... to be added by the panel)


 * To participate in the online discourse to further explore the subject matter, please subscribe to our open archived discussion forums as appropriate:
 * to participate in the OpenOntologyRepository Initiative - see: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OpenOntologyRepository#nid17YX
 * to join the Ontolog community, please refer to our Membership information.

Questions, Answers & Discourse:

 * (Unless the conference host has already muted everyone) Please mute your phone, by pressing "*2" on your phone keypad, when the talk is in progress.
 * If you want to speak or have questions or remarks to make, please "raise your hand (virtually)" using the chat tools (below). You may speak when acknowledged by the session moderator. Unmute your phone, by pressing "*3"', Test your voice and introduce yourself first before proceeding with your remarks.'' (Mute your phone, "*2" again after that, please.)
 * You can also type in your questions or comments through the browser based chat session by:
 * pointing a separate browser tab (or window) to http://webconf.soaphub.org/conf/room and enter: Room="ontolog_20081204" and My Name="Your Own Name (in WikiWord format" (e.g. "JaneDoe")
 * or point your browser to: http://webconf.soaphub.org/conf/room/ontolog_20081204
 * instructions: once you got access to the page, click on the "settings" button, and identify yourself (by modifying the Name field). You can indicate that you want to ask a question verbally by clicking on the "hand" button, and wait for the moderator to call on you; or, type and send your question into the chat window at the bottom of the screen.
 * thanks to the soaphub.org folks, one can now use a jabber/xmpp client (e.g. gtalk) to join this chatroom. Just add the room, in our case here:  as a buddy ... Handy for mobile devices!


 * For those who have further questions or remarks on the topic (or ones tha are left unanswered), please email the individual panelists directly, or, better still, post them to the [oor-forum] list so that everyone in the community can benefit from the discourse. - see: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OpenOntologyRepository#nid17YX

Questions and Discussion captured from the chat session:
PeterYim: Welcome to the Joint OOR-Ontolog Panel Discussion Session - Thu 04-Dec-2008


 * Subject: Ontology Registry and Repository Technology & Infrastructure Landscape - II

o Dr. Paul Buitelaar (DFKI, Germany) & o Mr. Peter Yim (Ontolog; CIM3)
 * Session co-chairs:   (1PDS)

o Dr. Mathieu d'Aquin (KMi, Open University, UK) - "Watson: A Semantic Web Gateway, and Towards a Decentralized Ontology Repository" o Mr. Matthew Horridge (University of Manchester, UK) - "The TONES Ontology Repository" o Dr. Paul Buitelaar (DFKI, Germany) - "OntoSelect: A Browser and Search Engine for Ontologies"
 * Panelists:   (1PDV)

PeterYim: Please point your browser to the session page at: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ConferenceCall_2008_12_04

PeterYim: if you are still recognized as "anonymous" (i.e. you don't see your own name under "Members" on the right pane), please click on the "Settings" button (top center) and swap in your name (in WikiWord format) ... thanks

Gully Burns@ISI: Quick Question: What is the OWL ontology editor that Mathieu showed a screenshot of (see Slide 14)?

PaulBuitelaar: if not mistaken the NeOn toolkit - Mathieu?

MathieuDaquin: To Gully Burns@ISI, this is the NeOn toolkit, the ontology editor developed as part of the NeOn Project

Gully Burns@ISI: Great! Thank you, I'll certainly take a look at this.

RexBrooks: Mathieu, Is 'Power Aqua' still available? I got a 404 message when I clicked on the entry in a google search. It seemed very useful. I was also curious whether it was an intentional double entendre for Pourquoi?

MathieuDaquin: oops, there have been problems with the KMi website lately, but in normal circunstances, it should be available.

MathieuDaquin: About the double entendre, I don't think so, but that's a great explaination... we might use it

BijanParsia: http://owl.cs.manchester.ac.uk/

Seba Jean-Baptiste@INL: Can TONES be used to test created ontologies without committing them to the repository?

BijanParsia: TONES is the name of a project, not of tools

BijanParsia: You can extract all the metrics used in the repository using Protege4 or the metrics web service

BijanParsia: http://owl.cs.manchester.ac.uk/metrics/

BijanParsia: All the owl.cs services have a uri based interface for programmatic access.

Seba Jean-Baptiste@INL: From what I hear in this presentation. I thought it was an ontology repository.

BijanParsia: The TONES repository *is* an ontology repository

Seba Jean-Baptiste@INL: OK

BijanParsia: It is the ontology repository of the TONES project

BijanParsia: So perhaps I misunderstand your question? I believe the code supporting the repository is downloadable

BijanParsia: Generally as part of the OWL API (or built on it)

MathieuDaquin: How are the ontologies sorted by DL expressivity? alphabetically?

BijanParsia: It is configurable

BijanParsia: You have a set of metrics (which is user configurable)

BijanParsia: and when you click on one it sorts by that

MathieuDaquin: OK, but how do you get a total order for DL expressivity? would be nice if it was based on complexity...

BijanParsia: It's just alphabetic

BijanParsia: There is no total order

BijanParsia: SHIQ, SHI, SHOQ are all EXPTIME

BijanParsia: Most of our users are looking for ontologies with particular expressivities e.g., to test a certain reasoner

BijanParsia: As we develop difficulty metrics we'll add them

MathieuDaquin: OK.

BijanParsia: See current slide (slide #15 of MatthewHorridge's slide deck)

HaroldSolbrig: How does TONES relate to BioPortal? It seems like some of the metrics, annotations, etc. goals are very similar...

BijanParsia: Are they?

BijanParsia: I dont' see any metrics on bioportal

BijanParsia: And it seems to be reuse oriented

BijanParsia: Could you point me exactly to what you mean?

HaroldSolbrig: Was thinking particularly about slide 13, where, last I knew, BioPortal's goal was to collect documentation, annotation, usage, etc. Just curious whether there was any planned collaboration...

BijanParsia: None at the moment. All our metric analyzers are available via the web service and the OWL API so can be reused. If they develop an interesting corpus from our perspective we'll certainly ask for it

BijanParsia: Looking at: http://bioportal.bioontology.org/home/release

BijanParsia: I see some similar goals (e.g., multiple ontologies exploration)

BijanParsia: Though with a different focus

BijanParsia: Also, for us, it's not just browsing multiple ontologies, but e.g., metric centric browsing. I.e., what do we need to look out to understand the characteristic use of disjointWith

BijanParsia: s/look out/look at/

Trish Whetzel: WRT to BioPortal, a feature to display ontology metrics is currently being developed as well as a Protege plugin to calculate this information

Gully Burns@ISI: I have a question for the panelists concerning supporting domain ontologies. The TONES project is specifically geared towards providing support for ontology research... I imagine that there a number of concerns involving documentation, presentation and classifying different ontologies. What kind of issues do we need to consider to support domain-based ontologies?

Gully Burns@ISI: ... (the above question was addressed by the panel verbally) ... Thank you

CarlosRueda: Question for Mathieu d'Aquin but also for the other panelists: This is related with the mechansm to extract metatada from the ontologies. How is this accomplished? does it search for OMV associated attributes; perhaps found embedded, linked, or how? What about best-preactices? ... (this question was addressed by the panel verbally) ... Thanks!!

PeterYim (12:32pm PST): Great session ... Thanks everyone!

Audio Recording of this Session

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 * Conference Date and Time:	04-Dec-2008 10:38am~12:32pm PST
 * Duration of Recording:	1 Hour 54 Minutes
 * Recording File Size:	       13.0 MB (in mp3 format)


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