Huber R, Klump J. "Charting taxonomic knowledge through ontologies and ranking algorithms more options " Computers & Geosciences 35(4) Special Issue :SI: 862-868, April 2009

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Addresses: rhuber at wdc-mare.org, jklump at gfz-potsdam.de  


TITLE : Charting taxonomic knowledge through ontologies and ranking 
algorithms more options 

Author(s): Huber R (Huber, Robert)2, Klump J (Klump, Jens)1  

Source: COMPUTERS & GEOSCIENCES    Volume: 35    Issue: 4    Special Issue: 
Sp. Iss. SI    Pages: 862-868    Published: APR 2009    

Times Cited: 0     References: 11     Citation Map      

Conference Information: Fall Meeting of the American-Geophysical-Union
San Francisco, CA, DEC, 2006  Amer Geophys Union  

Abstract: Since the inception of geology as a modern science, 
paleontologists have described a large number of fossil species. This makes 
fossilized organisms an important tool in the study of stratigraphy and 
past environments. Since taxonomic classifications of organisms, and 
thereby their names, change frequently, the correct application of this 
tool requires taxonomic expertise in finding correct synonyms for a given 
species name. Much of this taxonomic information has already been published 
in journals and books where it is compiled in carefully prepared synonymy 
lists. Because this information is scattered throughout the paleontological 
literature, it is difficult to find and sometimes not accessible. Also, 
taxonomic information in the literature is often difficult to interpret for 
non-taxonomists looking for taxonomic synonymies as part of their research. 
The highly formalized structure makes Open Nomenclature synonymy lists 
ideally suited for computer aided identification of taxonomic synonyms. 
Because a synonymy list is a list of citations related to a taxon name, its 
bibliographic nature allows the application of bibliometric techniques to 
calculate the impact of synonymies and taxonomic concepts. TaxonRank is a 
ranking algorithm based on bibliometric analysis and Internet page ranking 
algorithms. TaxonRank uses published synonymy list data stored in 
TaxonConcept, a taxonomic information system. The basic ranking algorithm 
has been modified to include a measure of confidence on species 
identification based on the Open Nomenclature notation used in synonymy 
list, as well as other synonymy specific criteria. The results of our 
experiments show that the output of the proposed ranking algorithm gives a 
good estimate of the impact a published taxonomic concept has on the 
taxonomic opinions in the geological community. Also, our results show that 
treating taxonomic synonymies as part of on an ontology is a way to record 
and manage taxonomic knowledge, and thus contribute to the preservation our 
scientific heritage. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 

Document Type: Proceedings Paper  
Language: English  

Reprint Address: Klump, J (reprint author), Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam, 
Ctr Data, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany  

Addresses: 
1. Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam, Ctr Data, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
2. Univ Bremen, MARUM, Bremen, Germany  

E-mail Addresses: rhuber at wdc-mare.org, jklump at gfz-potsdam.de  

Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, 
KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND  

IDS Number: 437GS  
ISSN: 0098-3004  

DOI: 10.1016/j.cageo.2008.02.016  

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