Topic map

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Topic maps are an ISO standard for the representation and interchange of knowledge, with an emphasis on the findability of information. The standard is formally known as ISO/IEC 13250:2003.

A topic map can represent information using topics (representing any concept, from people, countries, and organizations to software modules, individual files, and events), associations (which represent the relationships between them), and occurrences (which represent relationships between topics and information resources relevant to them). They are thus similar to semantic networks and both concept and mind maps in many respects. In loose usage all those concepts are often used synonymously, though only topic maps are standardized.

Image:TopicMapKeyConcepts2.PNG

As a highly simplified example, a topic map for the GreenPeace website might include topics such as global warming, forests, activists, Monsanto, soybeans and thermal maps. Associations might include "is a kind of," "uses," "is described," or "is the author of." Occurrences might include the URIs for specific articles. Thus the topic map might include "statements" such as "Genetic engineering by Monsanto is discussed here" or "A GreenPeace jaguar is a type of activist." Scaled up to a large information set with hundreds of thousands of pieces of interrelated information, the utility of topic maps becomes readily apparent.

Topics, associations, and occurrences can be typed, but the types must be defined by the creator of the topic maps, and is known as the ontology of the topic map. There are also additional features, such as merging and scope. The concept of merging and identity allows automated integration of topic maps from diverse sources into a coherent new topic map.

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[edit] Data format

Topic maps have a standard XML-based interchange syntax called XML Topic Maps (XTM), as well as a de facto standard API called Common Topic Map Application Programming Interface (TMAPI), and query and schema languages are being developed within ISO.

The specification is summarized in the abstract as follows: "This specification provides a model and grammar for representing the structure of information resources used to define topics, and the associations (relationships) between topics. Names, resources, and relationships are said to be characteristics of abstract subjects, which are called topics. Topics have their characteristics within scopes: i.e. the limited contexts within which the names and resources are regarded as their name, resource, and relationship characteristics. One or more interrelated documents employing this grammar is called a topic map."

A format called linear topic map notation (LTM) serves as a kind of shorthand for writing topic maps in plain text editors. This is useful for writing short personal topic maps or exchange partial topic maps by email. The format can be converted to XTM.

There is another format called AsTMa which serves a similar purpose. When writing topic maps manually it is much more compact but as well has to be converted to XTM to be useful in applications.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Lutz Maicher and Jack Park: Charting the Topic Maps Research and Applications Landscape, Springer, ISBN 3-540-32527-1
  • Jack Park and Sam Hunting: XML Topic Maps: Creating and Using Topic Maps for the Web, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-74960-2 (in bibMap)

[edit] External links

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