Adapting Research Process Models for the Design of Knowledge Engineering Applications.

AbstractTo design knowledge bases that effectively address desired reasoning goals, knowledge engineering requires a detailed description of information flow throughout the reasoning processes. Most existing workflow modeling technologies do not provide sufficient detail for projects where cognitive reasoning and field‐ or lab‐based data collection are important components. Research Process Modeling (RPM) was developed to support curation and data lifecycle needs, providing user‐targeted documentation on processes, agents, and artifacts, within research projects that include both computational and field‐ or lab‐based processes. We demonstrate the value of RPM to support the design of a knowledge engineering application within 3‐D geologic mapping, by documenting and describing information flow through a complex research project involving field‐, computation‐, and cognitive process‐generated data.