Automating generation of textual class definitions from OWL to English
2011

Automating Text Definitions from Ontologies

Sample size: 21 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Robert Stevens, James Malone, Sandra Williams, Richard Power, Allan Third

Primary Institution: The University of Manchester

Hypothesis

Can natural language generation (NLG) be used to automatically create text definitions from logical descriptions in ontologies?

Conclusion

The generated definitions from the ontology were found acceptable and have been incorporated into the Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO).

Supporting Evidence

  • The generated definitions were found to convey the intended meaning of the axiomatisation satisfactorily.
  • Two rounds of surveys indicated improvements in the generated text definitions.
  • The developers of EFO incorporated the generated definitions into their ontology.

Takeaway

This study created a tool that can turn complex scientific definitions into simple English, making it easier for people to understand.

Methodology

The study used a natural language generation tool to create definitions from the Experimental Factor Ontology and evaluated them through surveys.

Limitations

The tool's coverage is limited to a subset of OWL 2, and the generated text may not always follow domain conventions.

Participant Demographics

Participants were from the OWL ontology community and included a range of expertise.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/2041-1480-2-S2-S5

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