Abstract

This article is an exploratory study that intends to present semantic interoperability initiatives in the area of information science and computer science. It discusses these initiatives, focusing on open science and eScience, aiming at pointing out similarities and differences in the methodologies used for an intelligent retrieval of data in heterogeneous environments that do not benefit a universal language. We will illustrate seminal initiatives regarding the compatibility of languages in information science and the alignment and semantic mapping in the area of computer science, emphasizing what they have in common and their differences, showing that those seminal initiatives are still relevant nowadays. In this perspective, we want to bring up discussions about methodologies that supports a kind of “intermediate language” that allows the compatibility of research resources, semantically interconnecting their contents without forcing the use of a single language, but of a switching language, such as a metalanguage that guarantees to keep the differences of each community of speech.