LOF-P-008: Clearly delineated scope

Draft for ratification

Part of the founding draft of the LOF principles.

Summary

The ontology has a stated scope and a set of competency questions.

Purpose

Scope statements prevent overlap between member ontologies and let users decide quickly whether an ontology fits their needs. Competency questions make scope testable.

Recommendations and requirements

1. The ontology header has a dcterms:description, and the README contains a scope statement saying what the ontology covers and excludes.
2. The README lists competency questions: questions a knowledge base using the ontology should be able to answer.
3. The registry entry's domain field agrees with the scope statement.

Implementation

Write the scope statement and competency questions before modeling begins. They are required in the new ontology request.

Examples

"Covers the conferral, holding, and revocation of legal roles by institutions. Excludes the content of the obligations attached to those roles."

Criteria for review

Scope and competency questions exist and are specific enough to judge overlap with other member ontologies.

Automated check: ROBOT report check missing_ontology_description.

Feedback and discussion

Propose changes to this principle by pull request against docs/principles/lof-p-008-scope.md, or open a thread in Discussions.

Discussion