Extending Taxonomies to Ontologies

Sometimes the words “taxonomy” and “ontology” are used interchangeably, and while they are closely related, they are not the same thing. They are both considered kinds of knowledge organization systems to support information and knowledge management. Yet there is often a lack of agreement on their definitions, although published standards help define them both. Rather than debating definitions, what is of greater importance is what a taxonomy or ontology enables you to do.  Benefits of Taxonomies and Ontologies Taxonomies (hierarchical or faceted structured controlled vocabularies of concepts) primarily enhance search and retrieval of content, but they have related benefits.