Ontology enhancement using crowdsourcing: a conceptual architecture

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the use of crowdsourcing in the enhancement of an ontology of taxonomic knowledge. The paper proposes a conceptual architecture for the incorporation of crowdsourcing into the creation of ontologies. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopted the design science research approach characterised by cycles of “build” and “evaluate” until a refined artefact was established. Findings – Data from a case of a fruit fly platform demonstrates that online crowds can contribute to ontology enhancement if engaged in a structured manner that feeds into a defined ontology model. Research limitations/implications – The research contributes an architecture to the crowdsourcing body knowledge. The research also makes a methodological contribution for the development of ontologies using crowdsourcing. Practical implications – Creating ontologies is a demanding task and most ontologies are not exhaustive on the targeted domain knowledge. The proposed architecture provides a guiding structure for the engagement of online crowds in the creation and enhancement of domain ontologies. The research uses a case of taxonomic knowledge ontology. Originality/value – Crowdsourcing for creation and enhancement of ontologies by non-experts is novel and presents opportunity to build and refine ontologies for different domains by engaging online crowds. The process of ontology creation is also prone to errors and engaging crowds presents opportunity for corrections and enhancements.