Abstract
One of the basic problems in the development of techniques for the semantic web is the integration of ontologies. In this paper we deal with a situation where we have various local ontologies, developed independently from each other, and we are required to build an integrated, global ontology as a mean for extracting information from the local ones. In this context, the problem of how to specify the mapping between the global ontology and the local ontologies is a fundamental one, and its solution is essential for establishing an ontology of integration. Description Logics (DLs) are an ideal candidate to formalize ontologies, due to their ability to express complex relationships between concepts. We argue, however, that, for capturing the mapping between different ontologies, the direct use of a DL, even a very expressive one, is not sufficient, and it is necessary to resort to more flexible mechanisms based on the notion of query. Also, we elaborate on the observation that, in the semantic web, the case of mutually inconsistent local ontologies will be very common, and we present the basic ideas in order to extend the integration framework with suitable nonmonotonic features for dealing with this case.