1. How is the VIVO
Ontology
Structured?
Paul Albert
This project is funded by the National Institutes of Health, U24
RR029822, "VIVO: Enabling National Networking of Scientists".

2. Data Storage
Data in VIVO is stored using Resource
Description Framework (RDF)
Subject Predicate Object
Walter Mondale head of Trilateral Commission

3. Semantic Representation of Data
has author
Andrew McDonald
Mining the record: Historical evidence for… author of
research area
academic staff
in
research area for academic staff
has author
author of
taught by
research area crop management
Susan Riha
teaches
research area for
headed by
CSS 4830 NYS WRI
head of
faculty appointment in
features faculty members
person
featured in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Cornell’s supercomputers crunch weather data to help
farmers manage chemicals

4. Reasoning with Ontologies
Organization Reasoning adds
triples to your system-
College Library creates new data.
• All Colleges are Organizations.
Department
• All Libraries are Organizations.
Museum
• All Departments are
Organizations.
• All Museums are
Organizations.

5. VIVOs Core Ontology
• Dublin core
• Event ontology
• FOAF
• Geopolitical
• SKOS
• BIBO

6. VIVO
Core
Ontology
–
Bubble
diagram

7. Example: Modeling a Person
• Research (bibo:Document, vivo:Grant,
vivo:Project, vivo:Software, vivo:Dataset,
vivo:ResearchLaboratory)
• Teaching (vivo:TeacherRole,
vivo:AdvisingRelatioship)
• Services (vivo:Service, vivo:CoreLaboratory,
vivo:MemberRole)
• Expertise (vivo:SubjectArea)

8. VIVO Ontology Localization
• Different localization required by different
institutions
– UF, Cornell, IU, WASHU, Scripps
• How to make localization:
– Adding local namespace:
• UF: http://vivo.ufl.edu/ontology/vivo-ufl/
• core: http://vivoweb.org/ontology/core#
– Local classes are the subclasses of the VIVO
Core
• foaf:Agent à foaf:Organization à ufVivo:Non-
Governmental Organization

9. Helpful Resource
An accessible intro to
the Semantic Web