Agora: A hybrid P2P approach for knowledge description and discovery in distributed repositories

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for describing and discovering knowledge resources in distributed environments. Design/methodology/approach - The paper proposes a solution that includes a framework model and a technological infrastructure to achieve distributed knowledge discovery. It provides the solution based on a combination of research from knowledge management and distributed processing areas. Findings - The paper finds a faceted ontology and three discrete models that best achieve distributed processing in terms of knowledge items and knowledge objects. By these mechanisms are provided to: represent knowledge in a generic manner that will unchain knowledge from tight links to specific contexts, purposes and audiences; discover and retrieve knowledge stored in distributed sources; interpret different knowledge representations to enable comprehension of knowledge on the recipient side and tackle the heterogeneity problem; and simplify and accelerate knowledge exchange in distributed environments. Research limitations/implications - The utilization of knowledge in distributed environments (intra- or inter-organizational) presupposes the existence of a representation of knowledge in a commonly understandable manner. Knowledge resources are distributed in the web and databases in an unstructured manner. Practical implications - The paper can be used as the basic consensus and infrastructure for the development of a coherent, manageable semantic web. The three models should be addressed in terms of commercial applications. Originality/value - Knowledge management and distributed processing research fields are combined in order to provide a solution that best addresses the problem of distributed knowledge. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]