EKCD Ontology

EKCD is an EKC-derived ontology for Korean cultural heritage knowledge modeling. It extends the EKC ontology line with project-level modeling conventions, date- and URL-related datatype properties, local guidance for semantic mapping properties, and project-level extensions for interpretive assertions, evidence tracking, confidence levels, and utterance modeling.

EKCD는 한국 문화유산 지식 모델링을 위한 EKC 파생 온톨로지입니다. EKC 온톨로지 계열을 바탕으로, 프로젝트 수준의 모델링 관례, 날짜 및 URL 관련 datatype property, 시맨틱 매핑 property의 로컬 적용 지침, 그리고 해석적 진술, 근거 추적, 신뢰도 수준, 발화 모델링을 위한 프로젝트 수준의 확장을 제공합니다. @ko

• Current release: v1.1.2
• Ontology IRI: http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekcd
• Version IRI: http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekcd_v1
• Preferred prefix: ekcd
• Preferred namespace URI: http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekcd#
• Imported ontology: http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekc-2025
• Source ontology: http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekc
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• LOV Registration: EKCD: An EKC-derived Ontology for Korean Cultural Heritage Knowledge Modeling (ekcd)

Overview

EKCD supports RDF/OWL modeling for Korean cultural heritage data derived from, or aligned with, the EKC ontology family. Version 1.1.2 preserves the v1.0.8 date, URL, namespace, and semantic mapping guidance while adding a small set of classes and properties for interpretive assertions, confidence levels, evidence tracking, and utterance modeling.

EKCD는 EKC 온톨로지 계열에서 파생된 한국 문화유산 데이터의 RDF/OWL 모델링을 지원합니다. Version 1.1.2는 v1.0.8의 날짜, URL, namespace, 시맨틱 매핑 지침을 유지하면서, 해석적 진술, 신뢰도 수준, 근거 추적, 발화 모델링을 위한 소수의 class와 property를 추가하였습니다.

The ontology currently includes:

Category	Count in v1.1.2	Notes
OWL classes	11	Adds EKCD classes for interpretive assertions, confidence levels, and utterance modeling, while retaining ekc:3D_모델, ekc:3D_지도, voaf:Vocabulary, skos:Concept, and prov:Entity declarations.
OWL object properties	36	Adds EKCD-local properties for interpretive assertions, correspondence, contextual relation, evidence derivation, confidence, and utterance modeling.
OWL datatype properties	8	Adds EKCD-local properties for access URLs, date modeling, evidence notes, evidence locations, and utterance text.
OWL annotation properties	19	Retains explicit declarations for EKCD and VANN annotation properties.
OWL named individuals	7	Includes EKC/EKCD ontology resources, the DH-AKS organization resource, and interpretive confidence values.
SKOS concepts	3	Includes ekcd:Direct, ekcd:Probable, and ekcd:Contextual as controlled confidence values.

Namespace policy

As of v1.0.8, EKCD declares an explicit authoring policy:

EKCD TBox files and related ABox data do not use @base declarations, the empty prefix :, or relative IRIs such as <#...>, <...>, and <>. EKC and EKCD resources must be explicitly written with the ekc: or ekcd: prefixed names.

This policy is intended to make Turtle files easier to review, compare, and maintain across ontology and data releases.

Recommended prefixes:

@prefix ekc:   <http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekc#> .
@prefix ekcd:  <http://dh.aks.ac.kr/ontologies/ekcd#> .
@prefix dcterms: <http://purl.org/dc/terms/> .
@prefix dc:    <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/> .
@prefix edm:   <http://www.europeana.eu/schemas/edm/> .
@prefix foaf:  <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
@prefix owl:   <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix prov:  <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdf:   <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
@prefix rdfs:  <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix skos:  <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> .
@prefix xsd:   <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

EKCD-local datatype properties

Property	Range	Intended use
ekcd:accessURL	xsd:anyURI	Dereferenceable web address of a WebResource or Multimedia individual. In EKCD local practice, edm:isShownBy and edm:isShownAt remain object properties, while concrete URLs are recorded on the target resource with ekcd:accessURL.
ekcd:occurrenceDate	xsd:date	Normalized date of a single event, activity, or historical occurrence.
ekcd:startDate	xsd:date	Normalized start date of a period event.
ekcd:endDate	xsd:date	Normalized end date of a period event.
ekcd:originalDate	rdfs:Literal	Original date expression as attested in source materials, such as lunar-calendar or historically phrased dates.
ekcd:evidenceLocation	rdfs:Literal	Textual indication of the location of evidence, such as a folio, page, section, scene title, article date, or database entry.
ekcd:evidenceNote	rdfs:Literal	Note explaining how the cited evidence supports an interpretive assertion.
ekcd:utteranceText	rdfs:Literal	Quoted, transcribed, or summarized text of an utterance.

Date modeling

Use ekcd:occurrenceDate for a single known occurrence date. For period events, prefer ekcd:startDate and ekcd:endDate. When the original source preserves a non-normalized date expression, record it with ekcd:originalDate as well.

Example:

ekcd:SomeHistoricalEvent
    ekcd:startDate "1795-03-29"^^xsd:date ;
    ekcd:endDate "1795-04-05"^^xsd:date ;
    ekcd:originalDate "음력 1795년 윤2월 9일~16일"@ko .

URL modeling

In EKCD local practice, keep Europeana display properties as object properties:

ekcd:SomeObject
    edm:isShownAt ekcd:SomeLandingPage ;
    edm:isShownBy ekcd:SomeImageResource .

ekcd:SomeLandingPage
    ekcd:accessURL "https://example.org/page"^^xsd:anyURI .

ekcd:SomeImageResource
    ekcd:accessURL "https://example.org/image.jpg"^^xsd:anyURI .

Interpretive assertion and utterance modeling

Version 1.1.2 adds a compact modeling layer for cases where cultural heritage data requires interpretive statements rather than strict identity claims. ekcd:InterpretiveAssertion can be used to record the subject, predicate, object, evidence, and confidence level of an interpreted relation.

For utterance-centered historical modeling, EKCD adds ekcd:Utterance and its subclasses ekcd:RoyalUtterance, ekcd:RoyalCommand, and ekcd:RetrospectiveUtterance. These classes support the modeling of recorded statements, commands, declarations, and retrospective framings as event-like units in historical knowledge graphs.

Modeling need	Main EKCD terms
Interpretive assertion	ekcd:InterpretiveAssertion, ekcd:assertsSubject, ekcd:assertsPredicate, ekcd:assertsObject
Evidence and confidence	prov:wasDerivedFrom, ekcd:evidenceLocation, ekcd:evidenceNote, ekcd:hasInterpretiveConfidence
Confidence values	ekcd:Direct, ekcd:Probable, ekcd:Contextual
Utterance modeling	ekcd:Utterance, ekcd:RoyalUtterance, ekcd:RoyalCommand, ekcd:RetrospectiveUtterance
Utterance relations	ekcd:hasSpeaker, ekcd:utteranceAbout, ekcd:isUtteranceRecordedIn, ekcd:retrospectivelyFrames, ekcd:utteranceText

Semantic mapping guidance

EKCD distinguishes strict identity from conceptual, contextual, or vocabulary mapping:

Property	EKCD usage
owl:sameAs	Use only when two URIs denote the same individual/resource. Do not use for mere similarity, cross-reference, or concept mapping.
ekcd:correspondsTo	Use when two resources are interpreted as corresponding to each other, without asserting strict identity.
ekcd:contextuallyRelatedTo	Use when two resources are associated through historical, textual, visual, or interpretive context, without asserting direct correspondence.
skos:exactMatch	Use for precise mapping between concepts in different concept schemes. It is not identical to OWL-level identity.
skos:closeMatch	Use for close but not fully identical concept mapping.
skos:mappingRelation	Super-property for mapping relations between different concept schemes.

Release history

See CHANGELOG.md for version history and docs/changes/v1.1.2-ontology-revision.md for the detailed v1.1.2 ontology revision note.

Citation

If you use EKCD v1.1.2, please cite the version-specific Zenodo record:

(EKCD v1.1.2를 사용한 연구에서는 재현성을 위해 다음의 version-specific DOI를 인용해 주세요. @ko)

SEO, Dong Shin. (2026). EKCD: An EKC-derived Ontology for Korean Cultural Heritage Knowledge Modeling (v1.1.2). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20379676.

For citing the EKCD ontology as an evolving project across versions, use the concept DOI:

(EKCD 온톨로지 전체 버전 계열을 포괄적으로 가리킬 때는 다음 concept DOI를 사용할 수 있습니다. @ko)

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19753664

Credits

EKCD was created by Dong Shin SEO as an EKC-derived ontology for Korean cultural heritage knowledge modeling. Su-jeong PARK contributed to the improvement of EKCD.

EKCD imports and derives from the EKC ontology line. The EKC Vocabulary Contributor Group is therefore acknowledged here as the contributor group for the source/imported EKC vocabulary, not as a statement that all members of the group directly contributed to EKCD. Among members of the EKC Vocabulary Contributor Group, direct EKCD work has been carried out by Dong Shin SEO and Su-jeong PARK.

• EKCD creator

  • Dong Shin SEO @en / 서동신 @ko

• EKCD contributor

  • Su-jeong PARK @en / 박수정 @ko

• Source/imported ontology credit

  • EKC Vocabulary Contributor Group

Maintainer

• Dong Shin SEO @en / 서동신 @ko
• ORCID: 0009-0007-4477-6547
• Contact point: https://github.com/dongshins