Operationalizing Domain Ontologies: A Method and a Tool

The work presented in this paper deals with the integration of domain ontologies in Knowledge Based Systems (KBS). We claim that, for using an ontology in a KBS, it must be operationalized, that is transcribed in an operational knowledge representation language, according to a precise scenario of use. The use of an operational ontology of geometry led us to propose a formal method to operationalize an ontology with the Conceptual Graphs model, in particular by producing operational forms of the axioms, appropriated to the scenario of use. This method has been implemented into a tool called TooCoM (a Tool to Operationalize an Ontology with the Conceptual Graph Model) which allows users to edit an ontology and to automatically produce operational forms of it, according to different scenarii of use.