Ontology for preserving the knowledge base of traditional dances (OTD)

Abstract

PurposeSystematic organization of domain knowledge has many advantages in archiving, sharing and retrieval of information. Ontologies provide a cushion for such practices in the semantic Web environment. This study aims to develop an ontology that can preserve the knowledge base of traditional dance practices.Design/methodology/approachIt is hypothesized that an ontology-based approach for the chosen domain might boost collaborative research prospects in the domain. A systematic methodology was developed for modeling the ontology based on the analytico-synthetic rule of library classification. Protégé 5.2 was used as an editor for the ontology using the Web ontology language combined with description logic axioms. Ontology was later implemented in a local GraphDB repository to run queries over it.FindingsThe developed ontology on traditional dances (OTD) was tested using the dances of the Rabha tribes of North East India. Rabha tribes are from an indigenous mongoloid community and have a robust presence in Southeast Asian countries, such as Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The result from HermiT reasoner found the presence of no logical inconsistency in the ontology, while the OOPS! pitfall checker tool reported no major internal inconsistency. The induced knowledge base of traditional dances of the Rabha’s in the developed OTD was further validated based on some competency questions.Research limitations/implicationsIn the growing trend of globalization, preservation of the cultural knowledge base of human societies is an important issue. Traditional dances reflect a strong base of the cultural heritage of human societies as they are closely related to the lifestyle, habitat, religious practices and festivals of a specific community.Originality/valueThe current study is exclusively designed, keeping in mind the variables of traditional dance domain based on a survey of the user- and domain-specific needs. The ontology finds probable uses in traditional knowledge information systems, lifestyle-based e-commerce sites and e-learning platforms.