Feature-based similarity assessment in ontology using fuzzy set theory

Semantic Web as an evolution of Web has led to the introduction of new technologies including XML-based formats of representing data on the Web: resource description framework (RDF) and ontology. Similarity assessment of the entities has a fundamental role in processing and analyzing data represented in ontology. In this paper, we propose a technique for determining semantic similarity between pieces of information defined in ontology based on features describing each piece of information. The presented method allows for considering a specific context into the similarity evaluation. The quantitative characterization of similarity at different levels of abstraction in ontology is provided using elements of fuzzy set theory. We show through experiments that the proposed method compares favorably to other measures in terms of human judgment of similarity.