Ontologies in Portal Design

Abstract

Portals are becoming more and more ubiquitous on the Internet and that is why their architecture is a topic of concern among domain stakeholders. In order to ensure a solid architecture in portal design, ontologies must be considered as a necessary agent of design. An ontology provides a classification system for all the data and metadata in a domain. Ontologies supply metadata in order to bring about a streamlined delivery of information to users. While portals exist in order to assist users gain access to information, ontologies enhance portals by providing access to relevant information.