Introduction to Domain Knowledge

Summary

Domain knowledge is the sum of all knowledge involved in a particular domain/field. This article introduces the basic content of domain knowledge, including its definition, identification, and description.

Table of Contents

1. 1 Definition of Domain Knowledge
2. 2 Identification of Domain Knowledge
3. 3 Levels of Domain Knowledge

1 Definition of Domain Knowledge

Modern knowledge is divided into multiple industries or disciplines, each industry or discipline is refined into one or more domains, and domain knowledge is the understanding of these specific industries and disciplines.

Domain knowledge is an important concept in the fields of educational psychology and cognitive psychology, and many scholars have researched and explored it over the past few decades. In the early 1990s, American educational psychologist Patricia Alexander summarized past knowledge representation classifications and proposed: "Domain knowledge refers to all the knowledge that an individual possesses about a particular domain"[1], proposing that domain knowledge consists of three parts:

• Declarative knowledge: factual knowledge, that is, "knowing what" knowledge;
• Procedural knowledge: skill-based knowledge, that is, knowing how to use existing knowledge in operational tasks (knowing how);
• Conditional knowledge: restrictive knowledge, that is, knowing when or under what circumstances to use the first two types of knowledge (knowing when and why).

However, past research has shown that "the unique three-dimensional structure of domain knowledge representation has been ignored and has not received corresponding research"[2]. In order to better understand domain knowledge, we give the following definition, emphasizing the role of the latter two skills and restrictive knowledge, and achieving a goal can be considered a complete definition of domain knowledge: Domain knowledge is the sum of all knowledge involved in a particular field. Through learning and mastering domain knowledge, one can acquire corresponding skills and tools to help people complete a full task.

Domain knowledge is not fragmented pieces of information or a single line of information, but a systematic body of information.

2 Identification of Domain Knowledge

According to the framework of the HKC classification method, domain knowledge is defined as level 4 or 5. For example, in the Information Technology category, Programming Language can be defined as a domain knowledge with its HKCCode being 682.2, a level 4 classification; while Go is a sub-domain of Programming Language with its HKCCode being 682.2.9 as a level 5 classification. The detailed classification is: 600 Technology -> 680 Information Technology -> 682 Computer -> 682.2 Programming Language -> 682.2.9 Go, the more detailed Goroutine can only be considered as a Topic rather than a domain knowledge because mastering Goroutine alone is not enough to complete a specific software engineering development task. See below for the definition of IT domain knowledge architecture:

3 Levels of Domain Knowledge

3.1 Introduction to CMM

In the field of software engineering, there is a measurement standard called CMM[3] (Capability Maturity Model), which is used to measure a team’s software development capability. It is divided into the following 5 levels:

Initial level: Development work is disordered and plans cannot be executed;

Repeatable level: Basic management processes have been established and the same development steps can be repeated;

Defined level: Management processes and systems have been standardized and documented, and management activities are controllable;

Managed level: Quantitative quality goals have been defined; development results can be measured;

Optimized level: Capable of improving management processes, preventing defects, etc.

CMM has set clear standards and requirements for the process of software engineering, playing a huge role in software development.

3.2 KCMM

Inspired by the CMM, we have defined a similar indicator in the field of knowledge management: KCMM(Knowledge Capability Maturity Model), which is a maturity model used to evaluate the ability to preserve knowledge. It is divided into 5 levels, which are:

• Saveable level: identifying a piece of domain knowledge and storing it in text, audio, video or other formats can be defined as "saveable level";
• Readable level: detailed description of domain knowledge and access to this information through books or networks can be defined as "readable level";
• Usable level: adding interpretation or courses to domain knowledge and providing usage methods and tools can be defined as "usable level";
• Evolvable level: tracking frontier developments in domain knowledge and being able to update and evolve knowledge can be defined as "evolvable level";
• Spreadable level: setting up automatic dissemination functions for domain knowledge can be defined as "spreadable level".

3.3 Level 1: Preservable

Identified knowledge can be preserved in the form of text, voice, images, videos, etc., and the preservation medium can be carving, books, electronic media, crystals, DNA.

Most of the knowledge in the world today can reach the lowest preservable level. From the earliest human knotting to record events, to the cuneiform writing on clay tablets in the Mesopotamian civilization[4], to the oracle bone script of the Chinese civilization[5]], papermaking and movable type printing, to modern digital storage (tape, disk, CD, distributed storage), and future glass storage [6], crystal storage [7] and DNA storage [8], knowledge storage has undergone generations of technological updates.

The formats for storing digital knowledge are diverse and can be text, image, audio, video, and specific domain file formats. These file formats will be able to contain more information within the same file size as technology advances and develop new file storage formats.

However, countless knowledge and civilizations have not been preserved in human history, including the burning of books and burying Confucian scholars in China's Qin Dynasty [9], the destruction of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt[10], and the destruction of Mayan civilization in America[11]. Those accumulated knowledge has disappeared forever in the long history of human development.

It is precisely because knowledge can be preserved and avoid the danger of being destroyed that it can be passed down for a long time, allowing human civilization continue to develop.

3.4 Level 2: Readable

Saved knowledge can be retrieved and read. Knowledge printed in books is easiest to retrieve and read; while digitally stored knowledge must rely on auxiliary equipment to read, requiring increasingly complex and advanced technology from the server to achieve storage and retrieval.

In a sense, the higher the technical complexity of knowledge storage, the more difficult it is to obtain and read. Digitally stored knowledge may be at risk of being lost if storage or reading devices fail.

With the development of technology, almost all human knowledge will be digitized, while knowledge based on traditional books will become less and less common and may become a reading privilege for very few people in the future.

3.5 Level 3: Usable

Knowledge that can be read does not mean that it can be used and create meaning for the current environment. This is mainly reflected in ancient classics. Due to a lack of interpretation, people cannot understand the true meaning expressed by these knowledge, and these knowledge gradually become dead knowledge. For example, the ancient Latin is no longer used except in religion and specific fields (medicine, classification, etc.) and is becoming a "dead language".

Knowledge that can be used means that in addition to the knowledge itself, there are also course explaning the knowledge, usage, and descriptions of usage scenarios.

3.6 Level 4: Evolvable

Human will generate new knowledge when exploring new fields. Knowledge is enriched and developed through continuous use, and collides with other fields' knowledge to produce cross-disciplinary knowledge so that knowledge continues to evolve.

If knowledge is no longer used, it means that it is losing the reason to evolve and is gradually moving towards extinction.

For example Latin is no longer used now and has almost no development. In other words its evolution has stopped.

3.7 Level 5: Spreadable

In ancient times knowledge spread with civilization spread, often accompanied by aggression and killing. Whether or not knowledge can spread is limited to some extent by the development level of this civilization such as its level of internal development, level of inclusivity of foreign entities, whether it is aggressive, etc.

In modern times, based on technological progress and popularization of internet, knowledge can spread quickly and widely making it much easier for people to acquire them. Currently one can access any knowledge they want on the internet anytime anywhere, only through a mobile phone. But it is precisely because of this unprecedented convenience that some people lose interest in learning knowledge as well as their ability to master it, gradually becoming a watered-down "intellectual", rather than truly mastering or using knowledge.

In the science fiction novel 2001 A Space Odyssey[12], transmission of knowledge was accomplished through Monoliths. To reach such level of transmission requires capabilities such as interstellar navigation, ability to find intelligent life, ability to enlighten intelligence an advanced stage of transmission which can be regarded as an automated way of transmitting knowledge.

Image from movie 2001 A Space Odyssey, 1968

And in the science fiction novel Foundation [13], Professor Hari Seldon went far away to the edge of galaxy to establish Foundation, to compile and preserve various fields' knowledge, saving human civilization, which can be regarded as another completely artificial way of transmitting knowledge.

Currently, human's knowledge and civilization, whether from a technology or visioning perspective, are far from reaching the spreadable level.

3.8 KCMM Usage

KCMM has the following usage scenarios:

• To identify the real-world situation of domain knowledge, such as whether it is in development or has stagnated, in order to adopt the correct storage method;
• To define measurable standards for domain knowledge storage and strive to improve its storage level. For example, the level can be raised to usable by adding courses;
• To reach the highest spreadable level, identify technical routes and solutions, for example how to use AI technology to achieve such level.

References

[1]Alexander P A, Schallert D L, Hare V C, 1991: Coming to terms: How researchers in learning and literacy talk about knowledge. review of educational research, 61(3): 315-343. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249797854_Coming_to_Terms_How_Researchers_in_Learning_and_Literacy_Talk_About_Knowledge

[2] Cai Xiaoyue, He Bofeng, 2010: Research and Teaching of Subject Domain Knowledge-Contemporary Domain Knowledge Research and Its Teaching Transfer, Journal of East China Normal University (Educational Science Edition) 2010, Vol. 28 Issue (2): 43-51， https://xbjk.ecnu.edu.cn/CN/html/2010006.htm

[3] CMM: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%BD%AF%E4%BB%B6%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E6%88%90%E7%86%9F%E5%BA%A6%E6%A8%A1%E5%9E%8B/2069608

[4] Clay tablets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_tablet

[5] Oracle bone script: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%B2%E9%AA%A8%E6%96%87

[6] Glass storage: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/project-silica/overview/

[7] Crystal storage: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2016/02/5d-data-storage-update.page

[8] DNA storage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_digital_data_storage

[9] Burning of books and burying Confucian scholars: https://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E7%84%9A%E4%B9%A6%E5%9D%91%E5%84%92

[10] Library of Alexandria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria

[11] Mayan civilization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization

[12] 2001, A Space Odyssey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(novel)

[13] Foundation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series