Next generation knowledge organization systems: Integration challenges and strategies

This year's Networked Knowledge Organization Systems (NKOS) workshop built on seven years of workshops in the U.S. and Europe on issues regarding enabling networked knowledge organization systems (KOS), such as classification systems, thesauri, gazetteers, taxonomies, and ontologies, to support the description, retrieval, and use of diverse information resources. Now, many efforts are underway to research the issues and implement solutions to the challenges of networking and integrating KOS across somewhat isolated domains: indexing services and thesaurus builders; computer scientists and systems integrators; ontologists; taxonomists; and others. In many cases, requirements to solve these integration issues have become mission critical; the need to support computational, programmatic integration to handle masses of data from independent sources is pushing the research and development agenda. The need to move forward to meet these challenges while at the same time applying the best practices and "wisdom" developed through years of practical experience is acute. The JCDL-NKOS workshop for 2005 brought together researchers and implementers from diverse international communities who are developing new models, conducting research, and implementing practical solutions for networking KOS and integrating the associated information and data resources. Topics discussed include: Integration of KOS of different types, including thesauri, classification systems, gazetteers, taxonomies, and ontologies in support of specific digital library and semantic web initiatives. Methodologies, tools, and strategies for integrating and extending KOS to address new technology opportunities and to bridge domains and user communities. Updates on terminology related standards, including OWL, RDF, NISO Z39.19, the British Thesaurus Standard and others from ISO and the W3C. Identification of a research agenda to move forward.