The production and consumption of data is an ever-increasing phenomenon. It necessitates the creation of increasingly complex languages for representing and storing information. To keep knowledge engineers from being overwhelmed as this technology advances, tools such as the KnEd interface will be essential.
The first step in this process was the creation of a knowledge representation language capable of representing complex knowledge. This was achieved by extending KM to use annotations. These annotations have provided the knowledge engineer with more flexibility and helped in the retention of contextual information.
The development of KnEd has focused on the creation of an interface that will aid knowledge engineers in viewing and editing large-scale multi-functional knowledge bases. Its development can be termed a success due to the following two factors:
• KnEd has been in continuous use since its inception in 1989.
• KnEd has played a significant role in building the Botany Knowledge Base, which now contains over 12,000 frames and 168,000 facts.