Abstract
Fuzzy logic and soft computing have important roles to play in the development of the semantic web. Ontologies represent a means of representing and sharing knowledge between users and systems, and are important tool for information retrieval. However many different ontologies have been established, and communication between them can be difficult. In particular, many terms are located in multiple locations within large ontologies. Different stakeholders in the information retrieval process, “Authors”, “Readers” and “Librarians”, are identified. This work deals with the concept of the “Fuzzy Ontology”, which is designed to allow the representation of differing viewpoints within a single framework. The means of constructing, refinement and use of the fuzzy ontology are described. Fuzzy ontology membership values can be learned from documents or users, based around existing ontologies such as the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). Use of the fuzzy ontology approach for information retrieval may allow the efficient sharing of knowledge between users and groups.