Knowledge Base Concept

A knowledge base (abbreviated KB) is a special kind of database for knowledge management, providing the means for the computerized collection, organization, and retrieval of knowledge.

A knowledge base is often understood to be comprised of two kinds of statements, the ABox and TBox, which are also two different types of statements in ontologies.

TBox statements, the "terminological" component, describe a system in terms of controlled vocabularies, for example, a set of classes and properties. TBox statements tend to be definitional, such as a dictionary of words, or to establish structural relationships between concepts.

ABox statements, the "assertional" component, is where facts or other conditions are asserted.

TBox statements are sometimes associated with object-oriented classes and ABox statements associated with instances of those classes.