
116 | CHAPTER 7 Developing Standardized Terminologies to Support Nursing Practice
Because it is underpinned by description logic, OWL permits the use of auto-
mated reasoners that can check consistency, identify equivalence, and support
classification within the ICNP ontology. The result is a rigorously and predictably
defined multiple hierarchy. The compositional nature of the ICNP ontology
makes it well suited to support the development of local terminologies; the rich
hierarchy (and the opportunity for automated reasoning) makes it well suited to
support cross-mapping between terminologies. However, ICNP is computer-
based; it may be more powerful ...