Synonyms
Information integration; Semantic information integration; Heterogeneity; Conflation; Database integration
Definition
Information integration is the combination of different types of information in a framework so that it can be queried, retrieved, and manipulated. This integration is usually done through an interface that acts as the integrator of information originating from different places. For integration to be efficient and to deliver the kind of information that the user is expecting, it is necessary to have an agreement on the meaning of the information. In a broader scope, it is necessary to reach an agreement about the meaning of the entities of the geographic world.
In order for information sharing to happen among different communities in a effective and meaningful way some preconditions are necessary. The concepts that people have about the real world must be explicitly formalized; such an explicit formalization of mental models is called an ontology. Ontology is...
Recommended Reading
Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., Lassila, O.: The semantic web: a new form of web content that is meaningful to computers will unleash a revolution of new possibilities. Sci. Am. 284, 34–43 (2001)
Egenhofer, M.J.: Toward the semantic geospatial web. In: Proceedings of the 10th ACM International Symposium on Advances in Geographic Information Systems, McLean, Virginia, 8–9 November 2002
Fonseca, F., Egenhofer, M., Agouris, P., Câmara, G.: Using ontologies for integrated geographic information systems. Trans. GIS 6, 231–257 (2002)
Goodchild, M.: Geographical data modeling. Comput. Geosci. 18, 401–408 (2002)
OpenGIS: The OpenGIS Guide—Introduction to Interoperable Geoprocessing and the OpenGIS Specification. Open GIS Consortium, Wayland, MA (1996)
Smith, B., Mark, D.: Ontology and geographic kinds. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 12–15 July 1998
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag
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Fonseca, F. (2008). Ontology-Based Geospatial Data Integration. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35973-1_917
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35973-1_917
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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