How knowledge is shaped before an agent can use it
Six pages on the forms knowledge takes: the ladder from data to wisdom, the formats knowledge is written in, and the structures that let a machine retrieve a fact together with its context.
From framing to structure
These pages run from the general to the specific: why data alone is not knowledge, then how knowledge is written down, then the structures that make it retrievable. Each page stands on its own and assumes nothing about the others.
In this section
Written down and packaged
The framing, and the form knowledge takes when it has to be written down for a person and a machine at once.
- DIKW — data, information, knowledge and wisdom, used as an audit ladder rather than a diagram.
- Knowledge formats — how knowledge is written down so both a person and a machine can use it.
- Knowledge bundles — a directory of typed markdown concepts, meant to be traversed as a graph rather than read front to back.
Structured for retrieval
The structures that let an agent retrieve a fact together with the context it needs to be usable.
- Taxonomies — a controlled vocabulary arranged into a hierarchy; the cheapest structure that makes knowledge navigable.
- Ontologies — a formal specification of the concepts and relations in a domain, written so a machine can reason over them.
- Knowledge graphs — entities and typed relations, the form in which an agent retrieves a fact with its context.
FAQ
With DIKW, which is the oldest framing of why data alone is not knowledge, then Knowledge formats, which is the question of how knowledge gets written down. The three structure pages assume both.
No. A taxonomy is the cheapest structure that makes knowledge navigable and is usually the right first step. An ontology buys inference and costs reasoning; a knowledge graph buys retrieval with context and costs a build. Take them in that order only as far as the retrieval you need justifies.
The structures do. Taxonomies map onto SKOS and ISO 25964, knowledge graphs onto RDF, and ontologies onto OWL. The framing pages — DIKW and knowledge bundles — are working vocabulary rather than published standards, and the pages say so.
Sources
The sources behind these pages, cited by document identity:
- DIKW pyramid — the origin and the uses of the data-to-wisdom ladder.
- SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Reference — W3C Recommendation. Concept schemes, labels, and the broader/narrower/related relations behind the taxonomy page.
- RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax — W3C Recommendation. The triple model the knowledge-graph page works from.
- OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Document Overview — W3C Recommendation. The ontology language and its profiles.
- Open Knowledge Format (OKF) specification — one published form for a directory of typed concepts.