Feature №0
There is more than one model relevant to InLOC.
In the tables, 0 means there is only one model; 1 means there is more than one, ideally with an explanation, saying how many if there are a definite number.
How many different kinds of concept are modelled independently and have distinct information models?
In essence, is there one or more? Are competence definitions and competence structures modelled differently or separately? (Note what distinction is made.)
Models of competence differ in whether they see individual competence concept definitions differently from structures. One "two models" view is that structures and definitions are essentially different – a structure contains definitions – relatively stable definitions can be reused in different structures. The other "one model" view could be seen as implying that a competence structure is more or less an expansion of the definition of a single competence definition.
Alternatively there could be several models, with different characteristics and properties in each layer of model.
This difference in views has many implications for the way that skills and competence are modelled.
InLOC examples:
- The ASN distinguishes Statements from Documents, and the explicit "maps" (etc.) that may describe documents.
- MedBiquitous distinguishes Competency Objects from Competency Frameworks.
- InteropAbility tries to make do with just one model, albeit not completely.
- eCOTOOL models concepts and frameworks differently.
- IEEE-RCD expressly models only individual definitions, and was to be complemented by "Simple Reusable Competency Maps" for structures.
- Several sources have different implicit models of different layers in a hierarchy. The e-CF is an example.
For all sources that have exactly two models, the correspondence between the models is clear. On the other hand, there appears to be no consistency between sources with more than two models.
InLOC treatment
There are two classes of LOC in InLOC:
They use similar direct properties, so they can be seen as both being subclasses of a single abstract class, the LOC. Values of titles and descriptions are typically different in kind.