Stephen Stead, Martin Doerr, George Bruseker, Maria Daskalaki
Abstract This paper draws on the experience of the 20 years of development of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (now an ISO standard) to look at what constitutes a good concept. That is what are the characteristics of a concept that will form a robust part of a useful ontology. It first discusses the characteristics of Knowledge, Information and Data. From these characteristics it draws the conclusion that shared Interpretation Functions are required to induce Knowledge in an audience. Concepts act as such shared functions and so must have a solid definition. The paper continues by identifying and characterising the four foundational elements of such a definition: Arena, Purpose, Intension (spelt with an s!) and Potential. We then go on to describe the four components of the concepts Intension, namely Identity, Substance, Unity and Existence.
