Agora. A hybrid P2P approach for knowledge description and discovery in distributed repositories
| Pages | 432-444 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720610716683 |
| Date | 01 October 2006 |
| Published date | 01 October 2006 |
| Author | Panagiotis‐Petros Georgolios,Konstantinos Kafentzis,Kostas Metaxiotis |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Agora
A hybrid P2P approach for knowledge
description and discovery in distributed
repositories
Panagiotis-Petros Georgolios and Konstantinos Kafentzis
National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, and
Kostas Metaxiotis
Ministry of Economy and Finance, Athens, Greece
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for describing and discovering
knowledge resources in distributed environments.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes a solution that includes a framework model
and a technological infrastructure to achieve distributed knowledge discovery. It provides the solution
based on a combination of research from knowledge management and distributed processing areas.
Findings – The paper finds a faceted ontology and three discrete models that best achieve
distributed processing in terms of knowledge items and knowledge objects. By these mechanisms are
provided to: represent knowledge in a generic manner that will unchain knowledge from tight links to
specific contexts, purposes and audiences; discover and retrieve knowledge stored in distributed
sources; interpret different knowledge representations to enable comprehension of knowledge on the
recipient side and tackle the heterogeneity problem; and simplify and accelerate knowledge exchange
in distributed environments.
Research limitations/implications – The utilization of knowledge in distributed environments
(intra- or inter-organizational) presupposes the existence of a representation of knowledge in a
commonly understandable manner. Knowledge resources are distributed in the web and databases in
an unstructured manner.
Practical implications – The paper can be used as the basic consensus and infrastructure for the
development of a coherent, manageable semantic web. The three models should be addressed in terms
of commercial applications.
Originality/value – Knowledge management and distributed processing research fields are
combined in order to provide a solution that best addresses the problem of distributed knowledge.
Keywords Knowledge management, Knowledge sharing
Paper type Conceptual paper
1. Introduction
The adoption of knowledge management has impelled organizations to develop
platforms that would support the fundamental knowledge processes. Knowledge bases
or repositories have played a central role in the massive accumulation and storage of
knowledge gathered or produced in organizations as they applied these processes. The
volume of knowledge still increases day by day as new ideas, experiences,
advancements, interactions, etc. take place. The ability to share, exchange and use this
knowledge, which is distributed in various knowledge bases within the organization, is
one of the key drivers of organizational performance. Additionally, as organizations
realize that they belong to complex networks of partners, suppliers and customers,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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VINE
36,4
432
VINE: The journal of information and
knowledge management systems
Vol. 36 No. 4, 2006
pp. 432-444
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0305-5728
DOI 10.1108/03055720610716683
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