Co-word and Facet Analysis as Tools for Conceptualization in Ontologies: A Preliminary Study of a Micro-domain

Conceptualization is at the core of developing domain ontologies. This paper reports a study for developing an ontology for a micro-domain - Test Blanket Module (mm), an integral part of thermonuclear or fusion reactors. Sample data downloaded from yielded 1115 unique DEI (indexer-assigned) descriptors assigned to 548 records on mm. The frequencies of occurrence of all the unique descriptors, the corresponding co-word DEI descriptors (AN numbers) were identified On the basis of their research linkages the descriptors were grouped into four quadrants. It was found, that the descriptors in the 2nd and 3rd quadrants were at the core of the selected subject. A total of 31 core descriptors from these were selected for conceptualization and for each the co-occurring descriptors and their frequencies of co-occurrence with the selected descriptor were noted. Only descriptor pairs that co-occurred 10 times or higher were considered. Comparison of Co-Word Word Blocks (CWWBs) and word blocks (INISWB) from the INIS thesaurus showed differences. Co-words were used to semantically enrich descriptors transforming them into more comprehensive concepts; these were used as building blocks for conceptualization and for domain ontology. This method could be replicated to generate semantic networks (which could form an Ontological layer on any subject of study) and also in query expansion during search and retrieval in interdisciplinary subject domains.