Prospects and Possibilities for Ontology Evaluation: The View from NCOR

In this position paper, we briefly describe the perspective of the US National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR) on ontology evaluation. NCOR’s inauguration was recently held (October 2005), and at that time goals were identified and committees formed to pursue those goals, including the Ontology Evaluation Committee. This committee is charged with developing a plan for the evaluation of ontologies that is designed to transform ontological engineering into a true scientific and engineering discipline. This paper discusses some issues on ontology evaluation, including the relevant questions to ask, and suggests some approaches.