•  6
    Faceted Classifications as Linked Data: A Logical Analysis
    Knowledge Organization 48 (3): 213-218. 2021.
    Faceted knowledge organization systems have sophisticated logical structures, making their representation as linked data a demanding task. The term facet is often used in ambiguous ways: while in thesauri facets only work as semantic categories, in classification schemes they also have syntactic functions. The need to convert the Integrative Levels Classification (ILC) into SKOS stimulated a more general analysis of the different kinds of syntactic facets, as can be represented in terms of RDF p…Read more
  • Introduction. This article recosiders some basic notions in library and information science, including those of work, knowledge organization system, information and library and information science itself, in light of the theory of levels of reality. Method. This theory is briefly outlined, especially in its version by Nicolai Hartmann, which considers ideal being, matter, life, mind and spirit (culture) as major levels, and analyzes spirit into personal spirit, objective (social) spirit and obje…Read more
  •  5
    This book provides a complete introduction to the rapidly expanding field of Knowledge organization (KO), presenting historical precedents and theoretical foundations in a discursive, intelligible form, covering the philosophical, linguistic and technical aspects. In the contemporary context of global information exchange through linked data, Knowledge organization systems (KOS) need to be represented in standard inter-operable formats. Different formats for KOS representation including MARC, Du…Read more
  •  9
    Levels of reality as a fertile ontological model
    In History and memory of the knowledge organization. pp. 181-199. 2021.
  •  6
    An informational approach to emergence
    Foundations of Science. forthcoming.
    Emergence can be described as a relationship between entities at different levels of organization, that looks especially puzzling at the transitions between the major levels of matter, life, cognition and culture. Indeed, each major level is dependent on the lower one not just for its constituents, but in some more formal way. A passage by François Jacob suggests that all such evolutionary transitions are associated with the appearance of some form of memory–genetic, neural or linguistic respect…Read more
  •  151
    This is an evolving short text drafting the main ideas of the author's ontology, before producing special articles on its various aspects. It suggests that the major ontical levels that can be identified in the world -- forms, matter, life, cognition and culture -- all can be described in terms of informational systems that follow combinatorial rules. The emergence of a major level from previous ones is triggered by the appearance of a new kind of memory (genomes, neural systems, symbolic langua…Read more
  • Mentefacts as a missing level in theory of information science
    Journal of Documentation 6 (74): 1226-1242. 2018.
    The current debate between two theoretical approaches in library and information science and knowledge organization (KO), the cognitive one and the sociological one, is addressed in view of their possible integration in a more general model. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Personal knowledge of individual users, as focused in the cognitive approach, and social production and use of knowledge, as focused in the sociological approach, are reconnected to the theory of levels of reality, par…Read more
  •  82
    Levels of reality and levels of representation
    with Roberto Poli
    Knowledge Organization 31 (3): 151-160. 2004.
    Ontology, in its philosophical meaning, is the discipline investigating the structure of reality. Its findings can be relevant to knowledge organization, as well as models of knowledge can in turn offer relevant ontological suggestions. Several philosophers in time have pointed out that reality is structured into a series of integrative levels, like the physical, the biological, the mental, and the cultural one, and that each level plays as a base for the emergence of more complex ones. Among th…Read more
  •  33
    The field of knowledge organization (KO) can be described as composed of the four distinct but connected layers of theory, systems, representation, and application. This paper focuses on the relations between KO theory and KO systems. It is acknowledged how the structure of KO systems is the product of a mixture of ontological, epistemological, and pragmatical factors. However, different systems give different priorities to each factor. A more ontologically-oriented approach, though not offering…Read more
  •  57
    Facets: A fruitful notion in many domains (review)
    Axiomathes 18 (2): 127-130. 2008.
    Introduction to a special issue on facet analysis
  •  63
    Categories and facets in integrative levels
    Axiomathes 18 (2): 177-192. 2008.
    Facets and general categories used in bibliographic classification have been based on a disciplinary organization of knowledge. However, facets and categories of phenomena independent from disciplines can be identified similarly. Phenomena can be classified according to a series of integrative levels (layers), which in turn can be grouped into the major strata of form, matter, life, mind, society and culture, agreeing with Nicolai Hartmann’s ontology. Unlike a layer, a stratum is not constituted…Read more
  •  27
    Phylogenetic classification
    Knowledge Organization 33 (3): 138-152. 2006.
    One general principle in the construction of classification schemes is that of grouping phenomena to be classified according to their shared origin in evolution or history (phylogenesis). In general schemes, this idea has been applied by several classificationists in identifying a series of integrative levels, each originated from the previous ones, and using them as the main classes. In special schemes, common origin is a key principle in many domains: examples are given from the classification…Read more
  •  31
    Unified Theory of Information, hypertextuality and levels of reality
    with Riccardo Ridi
    Journal of Documentation 70 (3): 443-460. 2014.
    The different senses of the term _information_ in physical, biological, and social interpretations, and the possibility of connections between them, are addressed. Special attention is paid to Hofkirchner's Unified Theory of Information (UTI), proposing an integrated view in which the notion of information gets additional properties as one moves from the physical to the biological and the social realms. UTI is compared to other views of information, especially to two theories complementing sever…Read more
  • Classifying phenomena, part 1: Dimensions
    Knowledge Organization 43 (6): 403-415. 2016.
    This is the first part of a study on the classification of phenomena. It starts by addressing the status of classification schemes among knowledge organization systems (KOSs), as some features of them have been overlooked in recent reviews of KOS types. It then considers the different dimensions implied in a KOS, which include: the observed phenomena, the cultural and disciplinary perspective under which they are treated, the features of documents carrying such treatment, the collections of such…Read more
  •  27
    The value added of organized information: from Floridi to Bennett
    Knowledge Organization: Making a Difference: Proceedings ISKO Biennial Conference, London, July 2015. 2015.
    Recently, Floridi has proposed that ethics be centered on the notion of information, which would represent a value in itself. As anything contains information in some form, this stance would imply that anything has intrinsic value. While this perspective is intriguing as it would make information science an even more important domain, it needs to be refined by distinguishing between different levels of organized information. Instances of matter, of life, of minds, of civil society, and of cultur…Read more