Foundations of reusable and interoperable facet models using category theory

2016 | Information Systems Frontiers | Citations: 1

Authors: Harris, Daniel R.

Abstract: Faceted browsing has become ubiquitous with modern digital libraries and online ... Expand

Abstract: Faceted browsing has become ubiquitous with modern digital libraries and online search engines, yet the process is still difficult to abstractly model in a manner that supports the development of interoperable and reusable interfaces. We propose category theory as a theoretical foundation for faceted browsing and demonstrate how the interactive process can be mathematically abstracted. Existing efforts in facet modeling are based upon set theory, formal concept analysis, and light-weight ontologies, but in many regards, they are implementations of faceted browsing rather than a specification of the basic, underlying structures and interactions. We will demonstrate that category theory allows us to specify faceted objects and study the relationships and interactions within a faceted browsing system. Resulting implementations can then be constructed through a category-theoretic lens using these models, allowing abstract comparison and communication that naturally support interoperability and reuse. Collapse

Topics: application programming interface extensible markup language knowledge representation electronic health record programming language

Methods: ontological modelling computational algorithm data modeling

Theories: category theory set theory