Representation and organization of knowledge

This book explores and analyses the 'Amazonian culture' domain in the context of information organization and representation. It presents concepts of culture, highlighting schools of thought with the aim of supporting reflections on the domain. The supporting theoretical framework is centered on Ranganathan's Faceted Classification Theory and CRG (London)'s Integrative Levels Theory, as a theoretical-methodological basis for outlining the classificatory structure aimed at building documentary languages in the domain studied. Theories relevant to the nature of this study are also presented, such as Cognitivism, Polyrepresentation and Hjorland's Domain Analysis. The conceptual selection was based on popular Amazonian terminological vocabularies. The analysis of word etymologies indicated the influence of European, African, Asian and American cultures on Amazonian language. The results of the analysis revealed the feasibility of developing a working methodology to outline a classification structure to represent 'Amazonian culture' in its basic roots as a basis for building knowledge organization systems.