Knowlets : Components for Knowledge Management

The support we get from computers for dealing with large bodies of knowledge and immense quantities of information is rather mediocre: We can use data bases, file systems, or proprietary tools for organizing knowledge, and have to rely on text-based, syntax-oriented access methods like searching for keywords to locate items of interest. This paper presents knowledge components, or knowlets, as basic building blocks and a framework for the constructing of knowledge networks. In addition to typical component features like compositionality and encapsulation, knowlets are also mobile, and provide semantic and pragmatic access methods based on their contents and contexts.