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As We Really May ThinkMemex, Topic Maps and
subject-centric computing

• Steve Pepper, Ontopedia
• pepper.steve_at_gmail.com

?? (????)
AToMS 2007 Asian Topic Maps Summit, Kyoto
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Road map for this presentation

• As We May Think
• Vannevar Bush and Memex
• Is this really how we think?
• As We Really May Think
• Introduction to Topic Maps
• Understanding the TAO
• Topic Maps and the Semantic Web
• Similarities, Differences, Interoperability
• Topic Maps as a paradigm shift
• Subject-centric computing
• Computing as we may think

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Vannevar Bush and Hypertext
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As We May Think

• Visionary article from 1945
• Intended to set the direction for research in the
  post-war period
• Concerned with the problem of finding information
• Existing technology hopelessly out of date
• The amount of information is being expanded at a
  prodigious rate, but the means we use to find it
  is the same as was used in the days of
  square-rigged ships
• The solution is to get away from hierarchical
  systems of organization and adopt new techniques
  that reflect how the brain works

Vannevar Bush 1945 As We May Think MEMEX
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Associative thinking

• The human mind operates by association. With
  one item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the
  next that is suggested by the association of
  thoughts, in accordance with some intricate web
  of trails carried by the cells of the brain The
  speed of action, the intricacy of trails, the
  detail of mental pictures, is awe-inspiring
  beyond all else in nature. Vannevar Bush As We
  May Think (1945)

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Memex (memory extender)

• Consists of a desk containing
• a very large set of documents stored on microfilm
• screens on which those documents are projected
• a device for photographing new documents
• a mechanism for retrieving documents at the push
  of a button
• the ability to create links between documents
• the ability to build trails through documents,
  add comments to documents, insert new documents,
  etc.
• Note how everything revolves around documents

• Consists of a desk containing
• a very large set of documents stored on microfilm
• screens on which those documents are projected
• a device for photographing new documents
• a mechanism for retrieving documents at the push
  of a button
• the ability to create links between documents
• the ability to build trails through documents,
  add comments to documents, insert new documents,
  etc.
• Note how everything revolves around documents
• My question is...

• A sort of mechanized private file and library

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Is this how you think?

• Is your head full of little documents that are
  all hyperlinked together?
• I dont think so !
• Mine certainly isnt !
• We dont think in terms of hyperlinked documents
  we think in terms of concepts, and associations
  between concepts

?
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How we really think
WWW
Engelbart
Berners-Lee
Bush
Hypertext
As We May Think
AUGMENT
MEMEX
Xanadu
Nelson
NLS

• Documents are about subjects
• Those subjects exist as concepts in our brains
• They are connected by a network of associations
• This is how we store knowledge
• Documents are just a representation of some part
  of that knowledge

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Barking up the wrong tree?

• Vannevar Bush was right that people think
  associatively
• He was right that organizing information in this
  way would make it easier to find
• But he was wrong in adopting a document-centric
  approach to the problem
• His basic idea organize information as we may
  way think was a great inspiration to
  Engelbart, Nelson, Atkinson, Berners-Lee, and
  others...

• But the Memex sent them alloff in the wrong
  direction!
• I claim that hypertext has been barking up the
  wrong tree ever since!

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Which brings us to Topic Maps

• So what is Topic Maps?
• An open international standard for representing
  knowledge and using it to organize information
• ISO/IEC 13250 (and also ISO/IEC 18048, ISO/IEC
  19756)
• What is it for?
• Making it easier to find information
• Making it easier to share knowledge
• How is it used?
• To structure web sites and portals
• To help manage information
• To represent and connect knowledge

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The TAO of Topic Maps
Callas, Maria 42 Cavalleria Rusticana
71, 203-204 Mascagni, Pietro Cavalleria
Rusticana . 71, 203-204 Pavarotti, Luciano
45 Puccini, Giacomo . 23, 26-31 Tosca
. 65, 201-202 Rustic Chivalry, see
Cavalleria Rusticana singers .
39-52 baritone . 46 bass
.. 46-47 soprano 41-42, 337
tenor . 44-45 see also Callas,
Pavarotti Tosca 65, 201-202

• Core concepts based on the back-of-book index
• Extended and generalized for use with digital
  information
• Think of a two-layer model, consisting of
• a set of information resources (below)
• a knowledge map (above)
• This is like the division of a book into content
  and index

(index)
knowledge layer
information layer
(content)
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(1) The information layer

• The lower layer contains the content
• usually digital, but need not be
• can be in any format or notation or location
• can be text, graphics, video, audio, etc.
• This is like the content of the book to which
  theback-of-book index belongs

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(2) The knowledge layer

• The upper layer consists of topics and
  associations
• Topics represent the subjects that the
  information is about
• Like the list of topics that forms a back-of-book
  index
• Associations represent relationships between
  those subjects
• Like see also relationships in a back-of-book
  index

composed by
composed by
Tosca
Puccini
MadameButterfly
born in
knowledge layer
Lucca
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Occurrences link the layers

• The two layers are linked together
• Occurrences are relationships with information
  resources that are pertinent to a given subject
• The links (or locators) are like page numbers in
  a back-of-book index

composed by
composed by
Tosca
Puccini
MadameButterfly
born in
Lucca
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Summary of concepts
Lets look at some TAOsin the Omnigator

• The TAO of Topic Maps

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Omnigator interface
Demo

• Most pages are devoted to asingle topic
• (There are index pages as well)
• Navigation from page to page is via associations
• (As We May Think)
• Relevant information is available via occurrences
• (Subject-centric organization)
• Lots of features
• Full-text search, structured queries, filtering,
  merging, ...
• Get it free from http//www.ontopia.net
• Play with it! Its fun! There is also an editor,
  Ontopoly.

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Things you can do with Topic Maps

• Represent subjects explicitly
• Capture relationships between subjects
• Pose queries that would make Google boggle
• Give me all composers that composed operas that
  werebased on plays that were written by
  Shakespeare
• Represent multiple world views in one map
• Merge arbitrary maps together into a single map
• (This is perhaps the most powerful aspect of
  Topic Maps)
• (It cannot be done with other data structures)
• Make information findable...

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Making information findable

• As we may think interface for humans
• The topic/association layer mirrors the
  associative way people think
• Powerful semantic queries for applications
• Based on a formal data model
• Customized views based on individual needs
• Personalized information delivery using scope
• Information aggregation across systems
• Topic Maps can be merged automatically

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Applications of Topic Maps

• Taxonomy Management
• Metadata Management
• Semantic Portals
• Information Integration
• eLearning
• Business Process Modelling
• Product Configuration
• Business Rules Management
• IT Asset Management
• Asset Management (Manufacturing)

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Topic Maps and the Semantic Web

• Some people think RDF/OWL andTopic Maps are
  competitors
• I do not think this is true
• I think they complement each other
• The Semantic Web gets muchmore publicity
• W3C can bask in the glamour of the Web
• RDF and OWL appealed immediately to academics
• But why do people think they compete?
• RDF/OWL and Topic Maps have a number of
  similarities
• They stem from rival organizations (W3C and ISO)
• There are a few bigots
• Most people do not understand the difference...

RDF/OWL
Topic Maps
Romeo and Juliet
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The are superficial similarities

• Both extend XML into the realm of semantics
• Both allow assertions to be made about things in
  the real world
• Both define abstract, associative (graph-based)
  models
• Both have URI-based models of identity
• Both allow forms of inferencing or reasoning
• Both have XML-based interchange syntaxes
• Both have constraint languages and query
  languages
• But they are also different in some crucial
  respects...

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But the differences are significant

• Different roots
• Topic Maps has its roots in traditional finding
  aids (indexes, thesauri, etc.)
• RDF/OWL has its roots in document metadata and
  formal logic
• Different levels of semantics
• RDF is more low level
• Topic Maps has more higher-level semantics
• Different models
• Identity, scope, association roles, n-ary
  relationships, variant names,
• Different goals
• RDF An artificially intelligent web for software
  agents
• Topic Maps Findability and knowledge integration
  for humans

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The Most Crucial Differences

• RDF/OWL is for machines
• Topic Maps is for humans.

• RDF/OWL is optimized for inferencing
• Topic Maps is optimized for findability.

• RDF/OWL is based on formal logic
• Topic Maps is not based on formal logic.

• RDF/OWL is to mathematics as
• Topic Maps is to language.

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Who can tell me what this is?

• Is it an H or an A?

• The point I want to make is that fuzziness is a
  fact.
• Humans can handle it machines cant.

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Different capabilities

• RDF/OWL, to support logic-based inferencing,
  cannot allow fuzziness
• Topic Maps, because it is for humans, has to
  support fuzziness
• OWL ontologies tend to be very stringent and
  complex
• Topic Maps ontologies tend to be simple and less
  formal
• OWL has properties for things that Topic Maps
  doesnt need
• Some Topic Maps features would be too complex for
  OWL
• So you need to decide what it is you really need

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RDF or Topic Maps?

• RDF is more low-level oriented towards machines
• Topic Maps is more high-level oriented towards
  humans
• OWL is oriented towards artificial intelligence

• Do you simply want to encode document metadata?
• RDF is ideal and you wont need OWL
• Do you want to achieve subject-based
  classification of content?
• Topic Maps provides the best combination of
  flexibility and user-friendliness
• Do you want both metadata and subject-based
  classification?
• Go straight for Topic Maps because it also
  supports metadata
• Do you want to develop agent-based applications?
• Use RDF/OWL if you already have Topic Maps,
  youre half way there
• But whatever you choose, you can always move your
  data betweenRDF/OWL and Topic Maps, thanks to
  RDFTM

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RDFTM Data interoperability

• RDF/Topic Maps Interoperability Task Force
• A task force within the Semantic Web Best
  Practicesand Deployment Working Group
• Chartered to deliver two documents
• Survey of Existing Interoperability Proposals
• Guidlines for RDF/Topic Maps Interoperability
• Survey published in February 2006
• http//www.w3.org/TR/rdftm-survey/
• Draft guidelines published in June 2006
• http//www.w3.org/2001/sw/BestPractices/RDFTM/guid
  elines-20060630.html
• The task force is now disbanded and the work will
  be finalized by SC34

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Topic Maps as paradigm shift

• Topic Maps started out as a way to merge indexes
• It developed into a full knowledge representation
  formalism
• Now we understand that it is something even more
  significant...
• It represents a fundamental paradigm shift in how
  we use computers
• There is an interesting parallel here with
  object-oriented programming...
• (and with Copernicus)

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Object oriented programming

• Response to the software crisisof the 1960s
• Computer programs more and more complex
• Difficult to maintain software quality
• Modularity and reusability the answer
• Basic idea Structure programs as we may think
• Objects represent real-world concepts (like
  topics)
• They are grouped into classes (like topic types)
• Data structures capture relationships
  betweenobjects (like associations)
• Developed at University of Oslo in the 1960s
• Generalized as object oriented programming in
  the 1970s (Smalltalk)
• Represented a paradigm shift in the programming
  of computers
• Object oriented languages like Java now near
  universal

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The heliocentric revolution

• For 1,000s of years people thought that the sun
  revolved around the earth
• Actually some Greek, Indian and Muslim scholars
  knew better, but the view of Aristotle, Ptolemy
  and the Christian Church was dominant
• In 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus changed all that
• He proved that the sun is at the centre, and that
  the earth and the planets revolve around the sun
• His heliocentric theory turned our understanding
  of the universe inside out.
• This was another paradigm shift

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Subject-centric computing

• Today we face a similar situation in computing
  and information management
• Our computing universe has machines,
  applications, and then documents at the centre
• This is wrong, because it does not reflect how
  humans think
• Humans think in terms of subjects,concepts,
  ideas
• We must put subjects at the centre, because
  that's what were really interested in
• This is the essence ofsubject-centric computing
• and Topic Maps is showing the way

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Computing as we may think

• Today we face a similar situation in computing
  and information management
• Our computing universe has machines,
  applications, and then documents at the centre
• This is wrong, because it does not reflect how
  humans think
• Humans think in terms of subjects,concepts,
  ideas
• We must put subjects at the centre, because
  that's what were really interested in
• This is the essence ofsubject-centric computing
• and Topic Maps is showing the way

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Where to learn more

• Read The TAO of Topic Maps
• A simple introduction to the basic concepts
• http//www.ontopia.net/topicmaps/materials/tao.htm
  l
• Download the free OKS Samplers
• Omnigator (Topic Maps browser) Ontopoly (Topic
  Maps editor)
• http//www.ontopia.net/download/freedownload.html
• Come to Topic Maps 2008!
• The 2nd International Topic Maps User Conference
• Oslo, April 2-4 2008 http//www.topicmaps.com
• Do you want to change the world?
• Then join forces with Naito-san
• Help to build up the Japanese Topic Maps Community

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Arigato gozaimasuPlease enjoy the conference !
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