Developing ontology revision framework: A case study on the use of the coherence theory for semantic shopping mall

Why is ontology revision important? Very often, ontology exists in a particular period of timeline is often designed based on the purpose of a domain of interest at that instance of time. However over time, ontology needs to be revised due to changes in content, environment, requirements, or even structural representation. As a result, revision and updating of necessary components in the pre-defined ontology is unavoidable. When this happens, it is important to ensure that revision is conducted in a consistent manner so that it does not result in unforseen redundancies and inconsistencies. Any revision performed must be accompanied by a rational change to be dealt with from the consistency perspective. This paper presents an ontology revision approach to achieve this aim based on the coherence theory model of belief revision theory. An application scenario of semantic shopping mall is used to demonstrate the approach.