This section might begin to look a bit technical. However, it is not necessary to understand all the examples in detail, or to learn the technologies that are being shown. Instead, it is important for you to understand the general concepts: that there are different ways of presenting a data ontology depending on whether it will be read by a human or interpreted by a computer.
As we have seen, an ontology is a type of data model: an abstract, conceptual representation of a knowledge domain. An ontology is used to organise a collection of data within a storage system or container such as a database or a data file.
An ontology can be handwritten or drawn for the benefit of humans, or it can be presented as a schema — a technical rule book — for the benefit of computers.
There are two areas of arts, humanities and social science research where an ontology needs to be understood by a computer:
1. When creating or coding data (e.g via an editing tool or database).
2. When querying or presenting data (e.g. in the form of a website or data warehouse).
Importantly, once we express an ontology, either handwritten or schematised, it becomes data itself. More correctly, it becomes metadata: data that describes data.
URL for this page
https://www.dhi.ac.uk/books/ontology-guide/handwritten-or-schematised