Enabling Intelligence in Web-Based Collaborative Knowledge Management System

This paper presents an approach to enhance various intelligent services of a Web-based collaborative knowledge management system. The proposed approach applies the two widely-used argumentation technologies, namely IBIS and Toulmin’s argumentation schemes, to structurally capture the deliberation and collaboration occurred during the consensual knowledge creation process. It employs RDF and OWL as its underlying knowledge representation language with well-defined semantics and reasoning mechanisms. Users can easily create knowledge using a simple corresponding graphical notation with machine-processable semantics. Derivation of implicit knowledge, similar concept discovery, as well as semantic search, are also enabled. In addition, the proposed approach incorporates the term suggestion function for assisting users in the knowledge creation process by computing the relevance score for each relevant term, and presenting the most relevant terms to users for possible term reusing or equivalence concepts mapping. To ensure the knowledge consistency, a logical mechanism for validating conflicting arguments and contradicting concepts is also developed. Founded on the proposed approach, a Web-based system, namely ciSAM, is implemented and available for public usage.