HOLLANDER@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA (Lynne Hollander) (10/07/86)
SIGLUNCH Title: KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING AS THE INVESTIGATION OF ONTOLOGICAL STRUCTURE Speaker: Michael J. Freiling Computer Research Laboratory Tektronix Laboratories Place: Chemistry Gazebo Time: 12:05-1:15, Friday, October 10 Experience has shown that much of the difficulty of learning to build knowledge-based systems lies in designing representation structures that adequately capture the necessary forms of knowledge. Ontological analysis is a method we have found quite useful at Tektronix for analyzing and designing knowledge-based systems. The basic approach of ontological analysis is a step-by-step construction of knowledge structures beginning with simple objects and relationships in the task domain, and continuing through representations of state, state transformations, and heuristics for selecting transformations. Formal tools that can be usefully employed in ontological analysis include domain equations, semantic grammars, and full-scale specification languages. The principles and tools of ontological analysis are illustrated with actual examples from knowledge-based systems we have built or analyzed with this method. -------