Contexts and Ontologies in Schema Matching

In this paper, we propose a general model of schema matching based on the following ideas: on the one hand, a schema is viewed as a context (namely as a partial and approximate representation of the world from an agent’s perspective); on the other hand, a schema cannot be assigned any arbitrary interpretation, as the meaning of the expressions used to label nodes (and possibly arcs) may be constrained by shared social conventions or agreements expressed in some lexical or domain ontologies. Accordingly, the proposed schema matching method can be viewed as an attempt of coordinating intrinsically context-dependent representations by exploiting socially negotiated constraints on the acceptable intepretations of the labels as codified in shared artifacts like lexicons or ontologies.