Body of Knowledge is a term used to represent the complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a professional domain, as defined by the relevant professional association.

While the term body of knowledge is also used to describe the document that defines that knowledge — the body of knowledge itself is more than simply a collection of terms; a professional reading list; a library; a website or a collection of websites; a description of professional functions; or even a collection of information. It is the accepted ontology for a specific domain.

Examples of Bodies of Knowledge

The following are examples of Bodies of Knowledge from professional organisations:

• Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge
  Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge
  The Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge is currently set forth in a proposal by the American Society of Civil Engineers entitled Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st century...
  
  
• Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) — for international Information Security
  Information security
  Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction....
  
   professionals
• Software Engineering Body of Knowledge
  Software Engineering Body of Knowledge
  The Software Engineering Body of Knowledge is a product of the Software Engineering Coordinating Committee sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society.- Contents of the SWEBOK :...
  
   (SWEBOK) — for the profession of software engineering
• Project Management Body of Knowledge
  Project Management Body of Knowledge
  A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge is a book which presents a set of standard terminology and guidelines for project management. The Fourth Edition was recognized by the American National Standards Institute as an American National Standard...
  
   (PMBOK) from the PMI
  PMI
  -Computer science:* Portable Management Interface, a platform-dependent interface defined by Sun Microsystems used in network management* pmi , a command line utility for power management...
  
   — for those following the project management discipline
• Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge
  Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge
  The Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge is a reference document produced by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science as the first product of its Model Curricula project, started in 1997 by Duane Marble and a select task force, and completed in 2006...
  
   (GISTBoK) — for the geospatial realm
• Enterprise Architecture Body of Knowledge
  EABOK
  The Enterprise Architecture Body of Knowledge is a guide to Enterprise Architecture produced by MITRE , and is substantially funded by US government agencies. It provides a critical review of enterprise architecture issues in the context of the needs of an organization...
  
   (EABOK) — for the Enterprise Architecture
  Enterprise architecture
  An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
  
   (EA) discipline
• Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) from the IIBA — for the Business Analysis profession
• Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK) from the DAMA
  DAMA
  DAMA is a not-for-profit, vendor-independent, international association of technical and business professionals dedicated to advancing the concepts and practices of information resource management and data resource management .DAMA's primary purpose is to promote the understanding, development...
  
   — for the Data Management profession
• Modeling and Simulation Body of Knowledge
• Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge (MTBOK) — for massage therapists

See also

• Knowledge organization
  Knowledge organization
  The term knowledge organization designates a field of study related to Library and Information Science . In this meaning, KO is about activities such as document description, indexing and classification performed in libraries, databases, archives etc...
  
  
• Knowledge representation
  Knowledge representation
  Knowledge representation is an area of artificial intelligence research aimed at representing knowledge in symbols to facilitate inferencing from those knowledge elements, creating new elements of knowledge...
  
  
• Ontology (information science)
• Domain ontology
• Taxonomy
  Taxonomy
  Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
  
  

External links

• Technofunctional Body of Knowledge — for ERP
  Enterprise resource planning
  Enterprise resource planning systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application...
  
   experts
• Usability Body of Knowledge — for the usability profession
• Body of Quality Knowledge — for quality assurance professionals (Chartered Quality Institute)
• Body of Knowledge on Infrastructure Regulation — for utility policy
• Asset Management Body of Knowledge — Asset Management Body of Knowledge (AMBoK) — covering "the life cycle management of physical assets"
• Project Management Body of Knowledge — for project managers, managed by the Association for Project Management
  Association for Project Management
  The Association for Project Management is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, which aims to develop and promote the professional disciplines of project management and programme management, through a programme called the "Five Dimensions of Professionalism"...
  
  
• Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge — for massage therapists
• Information Management Body of Knowledge — for medical Information
• Body of Knowledge for Medical Practice Management