SQORE: A framework for semantic query based ontology retrieval

Existing approaches to ontology retrieval solely base their search mechanisms on keyword matching while taxonomic structure is solely used for ranking purpose. Users, therefore, are not equipped with expressive means to structurally and semantically describe their ontology needs. To tackle this problem, this paper develops a framework for Semantic Query based Ontology Retrieval, namely SQORE. It enables precise formulation of a semantic query in order to best capture a user's ontology requirements, which include not only the desired class and property names, but also their relations and restrictions. SQORE employs XML Declarative Description (XDD) theory as its theoretical foundation for modeling ontology databases and evaluating semantic queries. Moreover, similarity score is formally defined as a key metric for ranking the resulting ontologies based on their conceptual closeness to the given query.