---
title: "Integrity and Change in Modular Ontologies"
authors:
  - "Heiner Stuckenschmidt"
  - "Michel C. A. Klein"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2003/129"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2003/0129.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 2003
pages: "900-907"
track: ""
keywords:
---

# Integrity and Change in Modular Ontologies

Heiner Stuckenschmidt, Michel C. A. Klein

*Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 900-907.

## Abstract

The benefits of modular representations are well known from many areas of computer science. In this paper, we concentrate on the benefits of modular ontologies with respect to local containment of terminological reasoning. We define an architecture for modular ontologies that supports local reasoning by compiling implied subsumption relations. We further address the problem of guaranteeing the integrity of a modular ontology in the presence of local changes. We propose a strategy for analyzing changes and guiding the process of updating compiled information.