Compatibilização Semântica: uma proposta de melhoria para integração de dados científicos em Biodiversidade

Abstract

This thesis deals with the semantic compatibility of Knowledge Organization Systems focused on the field of Biodiversity, with the general objective of proposing guidelines for terminological compatibility between different vocabularies used in the indexing of databases on Biodiversity. To this end, the specific objectives unfold in identifying, in the literature, the panorama about the knowledge organization systems focused on the field of Biodiversity; understand the main concepts studied in Biodiversity; to study the concepts of semantic compatibility proposed by Information Science and to investigate the possibilities of applying semantic compatibility techniques in the integration of Biodiversity databases. To reach the first objective, which is to identify, in the literature, the panorama about knowledge organization systems focused on the field of Biodiversity, a bibliographic search was carried out in databases in Information Science, in addition to more general bases such as the Web of Science and BioOne. To reach the second objective, which deals with understanding the main concepts studied in the field of Biodiversity, a domain analysis was developed as proposed by Hjørland (2022), based on three approaches suggested by the author, namely: studies approach epistemological and critical; bibliometric study approach; and terminological study approach. To achieve the third objective, which is to study the concepts of semantic compatibility proposed by Information Science, searches were carried out in databases in Information Science in order to identify key authors who study the subject. To obtain the fourth objective, which deals with investigating the possibilities of applying semantic compatibility techniques in the integration of biodiversity databases, an empirical study was carried out with terms present in the Pró Espécies project, whose objective is to unify information about Brazilian species. The analysis of terms and investigations in the literature served as a basis for proposing guidelines aimed at compatibility. It is concluded that performing semantic compatibility with a view to semantic integration is not an easy task, but that research that deals with compatibility and data sharing can show a path to be followed.