A knowledge base is a special database for storing knowledge. Knowledge database is an undefined term that is usually used in connection with knowledge management and is a collection of explicit knowledge in mostly written form.
The term knowledge base is used for formal, machine-interpretable knowledge in knowledge-based systems. In English, it is always referred to as a knowledge base. Often, it is organizations that make their ideas, problem solutions, articles, processes, white papers, user manuals and the quality management manual available to all authorized persons in a knowledge base. A knowledge base requires carefully structured classification, formatting of content, and user-friendly search functionality. Knowledge databases, in the sense of collected documents, serve to provide knowledge independent of persons, time and space. Accordingly, they are also used in private life, e.g. in private groups with the same interests (pets, plants, hobbies). They are mainly used in companies:
- in self-service to save customers and users the need to call the service center,
- in the service in order to be able to ensure a uniform quality of information,
- in sales and marketing in order to be able to ensure consistent statements to customers,
- in production, development and research in order to ensure uniform standards and to be able to access the experience already gained.
In general, it is difficult to draw a dividing line between document collections and knowledge bases. Accordingly, there is little or no scientific processing of the knowledge databases in particular, but is generally to be found in the area of “knowledge management”.
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An expert system could e.g. be a technical support function, with the knowledge base being a searchable collection of questions and answers. Other examples include systems to support medical diagnoses or analyze scientific data.
Main Tasks of Knowledge Base
The main role of a knowledge base is to help people to:
- To make knowledge available to other people,
- Find resources quickly,
- Collecting, commenting, linking and exploiting information of all kinds,
- To present information selectively (avoidance of overloading with undesirable scattering information),
- To present information as precisely as possible (according to the natural facts), self-explanatory (i.e. geometrically in the 3D image) and just as stringently (i.e. by formulas).
Features of Knowledge Base
Editing
Knowledge base editing involves procuring, verifying, organizing, and presenting the information in a knowledge base. The editor’s job doesn’t start with the content, but with the users and their business-related tasks. The intent is for multiple editors to gain an in-depth understanding of user tasks in the business context. For example, an efficient handling of processes of print, web and database publishing is necessary.
Publication
Knowledge base publishing is a process that deals with the creation, preservation, integration and functional use of the knowledge base. The implementation is realized through programs and techniques from various fields (e.g. computer science, knowledge management, journalism, public relations, business management, lifelong learning, etc.).
The publishing process, which is usually similar to the publication of a website, is strongly integrated into the workflow. Maintaining usability is an important aspect of the integration process. For example, the following functions should be taken into account:
- Integrate a search engine into the system
- Add an A-Z index
- Related documents and relationships.
Navigation and search
Published content must be easy for users to find. Accordingly, search and navigation is one of the essential functions of a knowledge base.
Navigation means that content is divided into hierarchical categories so that users can easily find the content that is important to them through hierarchical navigation.
High demands are placed on search, as users often do not know exactly which search terms to use for a search. An important approach is therefore often a semantic extension of the search or a semantically structured / excellent storage of the data, which goes beyond a pure text collection.
