Knowledge core

This article is about an emerging information system. For the Australian textbook series, see Core knowledge.

A knowledge core is a name for a proposed online information system. It would include a large database and an advanced content management system to sort, organize, and present available facts about any subject matter.

Combining attributes of an encyclopedia and a search engine, a knowledge core may also use information stored on the semantic web. It may become the basis of the successor to the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, if there is to be one.

Concept

A knowledge core would store a large number of elemental facts about any subject, which would be categorized by meaning and reliability. As such it would automatically perform many functions of the volunteer editors of an online encyclopedia. It would accept data from many sources.

The knowledge core's database could include original research about any subject, and any number of unsourced claims, but it would present only a selection of the data it has available, based on the requirements of the user. These requirements could include the user's biases, their existing understanding, and their interests. The core could also automatically gather data on obscure subjects, or present common data in a way that is only personally relevant to a single user.

The most challenging aspect would be the artificial intelligence software that would have to understand a subject well enough to be able to create an accurate description of it. The core could use different programs for different types of knowledge.

An early project intended to create such a system is the online encyclopedia Infogalactic, which calls itself the planetary knowledge core.