Classification of frontier objects in the knowledge organization and the role of ontologies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Boundary objects have been approached in the area of Information Science as objects (concrete or abstract) used as bridges of contact between communities or groups, facilitating their communication and understanding. Several types of boundary objects are exemplified in the literature, each playing a specific role within the more general role of articulating understanding and knowledge exchange among communities that share some common goal. However, this differentiation of roles is not always clear, making it difficult to understand the purpose and utility of such instruments according to their characteristics and the problem they are intended to solve. Especially when the same boundary object can assume more than a role according to its use, as is the case of ontologies. The objective of this work is to investigate different types of frontier objects, based on a literature review, and to propose a categorization based on its characteristics and purposes. From this categorization, it is proposed to situate the different roles that ontologies can assume as border objects, discussing their use as such. As a result, we present a conceptual map of boundary object types and an exemplification of the role of ontologies according to their use in this context.

Keywords: Boundary Objects; Knowledge Organization; Ontologies.