Modeling human argumentation should shed light on how knowledge described in information systems could be better accessed, structured, and used for real life research purposes. Current argumentation models are either not analytical enough or restricted to formal logic. For that purpose, we seek a model of human argumentation in which reasoning may not only consist of falsification or verification but more generally of strengthening or weakening hypotheses, and a way to connect this model to an ontology of the domain of discourse. We have studied examples of factual argumentation in empirical research in archaeology. Based on this and other empirical material, we propose an innovative integrated model of factual argumentation that includes evolution, composition, and revision of arguments. It makes explicit both the processes of argument-making and the states of belief at a particular point in time in a composite inference, and connects explicitly to a domain ontology, free of tacit background knowledge. We have implemented the model in a more restricted form and tested it with published archaeological examples. Future work may generalize the model to other kinds of argumentation.

We describe the construction and use of the SeaLiT Ontology, an extension of the ISO standard CIDOC-CRM for the modelling and integration of maritime history information. The ontology has been developed gradually, following a bottom-up approach that required the analysis of large amounts of real primary data (archival material) as well as knowledge and validation by domain experts (maritime historians). We present the specification of the ontology, RDFS and OWL implementations, as well as knowledge graphs that make use of this data model for integrating information originating from a large and diverse set of archival documents, such as crew lists, sailors registers, naval ship registers, and payrolls. We also describe an application that operates over these knowledge graphs and which supports historians in exploring and quantitatively analysing the integrated data through a user-friendly interface. Finally, we discuss aspects related to the use, evolution, and sustainability of the ontology.

Food resource management plays a pivotal role in addressing global challenges related to food security, sustainability, public health, and economic development. To facilitate the collection and identification of food resources, various collections and systems have emerged from the scientific community. One such system is FoodEx2, which has been developed by the European Food Safety Authority and is used for classifying and describing food-related information. In this paper, we describe how FoodEx2 can be transformed into a standardized thesaurus using well-established technologies and standards that enhance its interoperability and exchange of data resources. The new thesaurus also promotes its usage through the adoption of unique and global identifiers for its contents and through a variety of tools that can be used for accessing and visualizing it. In addition, we describe how the thesaurus can be reconstructed from the original sources as they evolve.

We describe the construction and use of the SeaLiT Ontology, an extension of the ISO standard CIDOC-CRM for the modelling and integration of maritime history information. The ontology has been developed gradually, following a bottom-up approach that required the analysis of large amounts of real primary data (archival material) as well as knowledge and validation by domain experts (maritime historians). We present the specification of the ontology, RDFS and OWL implementations, as well as knowledge graphs that make use of this data model for integrating information originating from a large and diverse set of archival documents, such as crew lists, sailors registers, naval ship registers and payrolls. We also describe an application that operates over these knowledge graphs and which supports historians in exploring and quantitatively analysing the integrated data through a user-friendly interface. Finally, we discuss aspects related to the use, evolution and sustainability of the ontology.