According to Webster’s dictionary, to “know” is to “hold something in one’s mind as true or as being what it purport to be”… [This] “Implies a sound logical or factual basis.” It also implies “to be convinced of.”
By extension, knowledge refers to the “fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association." Accordingly, what is ‘known’ is that which is ‘generally recognized.' We extend this standard view of knowledge to take into account a cluster of understandings that we refer to as a knowledge system.
We define a knowledge system as:
- An organized structure and dynamic process to represent and generate content, components, classes or types of information, data, and forms of knowledge broadly defined.
Conceptually, the approach to – and organization of – knowledge in CyberIR@MIT is:
- (a) Characterized by domain-specific features,
- (b) Reinforced by a set of logical relationships that connect the content of knowledge to its value (utility),
- (c) Enhanced by a set of iterative processes that enable evolution, revision, and adaptation, as well as advancement, and
- (d) Subject to criteria of relevance, reliability & quality.