Define the concept of "schema mapping"

[matentzn]

Discuss here.

[jonquet]

Euzenat and Shvaiko do make a distinction between schemas and ontologies in their book Ontology Matching (2nd ed., 2013), although they often treat them similarly in the context of matching.

Here’s how they differentiate them:

[Euzenat & Shvaiko, Ontology Matching, Springer, 2nd ed., 2013]

“We use the term ontology in a broad sense, which encompasses what are sometimes called vocabularies, thesauri, classifications, taxonomies, schemas, etc.”

In other words:
• Schemas typically refer to lightweight, structured models—like database schemas or XML schemas—that define the structure of data.
• Ontologies, in a stricter sense, include more formal, semantic representations, often with logic-based axioms, class hierarchies, and property constraints (e.g., OWL ontologies).

However, for the purpose of alignment, they generalize the term “ontology” to cover both schemas and ontologies, because the alignment techniques often apply similarly to both.

They acknowledge that the expressiveness and logical foundations may differ, but from a matching perspective, both involve entities and relationships that can be aligned.

[jonquet]

In other words: See #45 as in the context of mapping/alignement we can treat schemas and ontologies similarly.

[jonquet]

If accepted we can maybe merge the 2 discussions (#45 and #47) and rename this to "semantic artefact mapping" as the term semantic artefact was especially created to encompass these.

[sveinugu]

To me, these are very different concepts and using the concept "semantic artefact" and "semantic artifact mapping" to contain both schemas and ontologies and their mappings are conflating worlds that in reality are very different.

Question: Does this assume that the schemas are described as linked data entities/relationships? In reality, most schemas are not. Example: none of the schemas from the standards by the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) are defined in terms of linked data entities and relationships.

[jkesanie]

We should take this discussion to the discussions, so that we can reply to replies.