Ontologies have been proposed as an alternative for creating representations of reality suitable for computers. In looking for "ontology" in a search engine, one can find many different approaches. Indeed, the term "ontology" is employed within Philosophy, Computer Science and Information Science with different meanings. In order to take advantage of what ontology theories have to offer, one should understand what they address and where they come from. This paper aims to clarify what means to study ontologies and what connections this subject fosters among different research fields. We begin by revisiting the meaning of the term ontology in its original field, Philosophy, to reach its current use in other research fields. We advocate that ontology is a genuine and relevant subject of research in Information Science. Finally, we conclude by offering our view of the opportunities for interdisciplinary research.
Ontology; Information Science
