Ontological modeling of music and musicological claims. A case study in early music
Document Type
Journal Article
Role
Author
Journal Title
International Journal on Digital Libraries
Volume
26
Issue
2
Publication Date
6-7-2025
Abstract
Research in the humanities involves articulating claims about the phenomena under investigation. In musicology, for instance, scholars may assert claims about the authorship of a composition, its structural features, or its similarity to other pieces. Effective models for knowledge representation and data management must therefore document both cultural artifacts and the claims associated with them. This paper aims to contribute to the interdisciplinary intersection of humanities, specifically musicology and computer science by presenting an ontology for claims. The paper utilizes knowledge representation techniques, particularly focusing on Semantic Web languages and technologies. These include the adoption of an ontology-based data access system to develop a prototype web application to navigate through data in a relational format. Additionally, drawing from a musicological standpoint, our work stems from a project in Early Music (roughly that period of European music history from about the year 1000 to 1600), providing requirements and case studies to illustrate our ontology within a tangible context. This paper introduces the Ontology for Analytic Claims in Music (OMAC), a novel ontology intended for documenting musical compositions and associated scholarly claims. Throughout the paper, we justify the ontology in relation to similar existing efforts, elucidating the similarities and distinctions from models such as Library Reference Model Object Oriented (LRMoo). The paper presents the OMAC ontology, outlining its developmental motivations and core modeling choices. Future endeavors will focus on augmenting the ontology with additional modeling elements through close collaboration with domain experts and stakeholders. These enhancements will aim to accommodate diverse types of claims and musical entities. Additionally, future work will explore utilizing the ontology in conjunction with other techniques for data analysis and comparison.
Repository Citation
Sanfilippo, E. M., Freedman, R., & Mosca, A. (2025). Ontological modeling of music and musicological claims. A case study in early music. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00799-025-00421-z
