Archetypes: Knowledge Models for Future-proof Systems

Most information systems today are built using “single-level” methodologies, in which both informational and knowledge concepts are built into one level of object and data models. In domains characterised by complexity, large numbers of concepts, and/or a high rate of definitional change, systems based on such models are expensive to maintain and usually have to be replaced after a few years. However, a two-level methodology is possible, in which systems are built from information models only, and driven at runtime by knowledge-level concept definitions, or “archetypes”. In this approach, systems can be built more quickly and last longer, whilst archetypes are authored directly by domain specialists, rather than IT personnel. Executed properly, the approach has the potential for creating future-proof systems and information. Work in the medical informatics domain on electronic health records (EHRs) has shown that a two-level methodology is implementable, makes for smaller systems, and empowers domain users.