Conceptualization (information science)

In information science a conceptualization is an abstract simplified view of some selected part of the world, containing the objects, concepts, and other entities that are presumed of interest for some particular purpose and the relationships between them.

The question then arises as to how to describe the 'conceptualization' in terms that can encompass multiple ontologies.

[9] However, in more artificial situations, such as information systems, the idea of a 'conceptualization' and the 'ontological commitment' of various ontologies that realize the 'conceptualization' is possible.

[6][10] The formation of a conceptualization and its ontologies involves these steps:[11] An example of moving conception into a language leading to a variety of ontologies is the expression of a process in pseudocode (a strictly structured form of ordinary language) leading to implementation in several different formal computer languages like Lisp or Fortran.

[citation needed] This article incorporates material from the Citizendium article "Conceptualization (information science)", which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL.

Chart showing the relation between a conceptualization in information science, its various ontologies (each with its own specialized language), and their shared ontological commitment. [ 1 ]