Topic Maps Next Generation

1
Topic Maps Next Generation

• Michel Biezunski
• President, InfoLoom, Inc.
• Co-chair XTM

2
What do we need?

• Many people want topic maps now.
• We have an approved, published ISO standard
  (January 2000).
• We have to adapt it to the current environment
  Web and XML.
• We have to deal with heritage.
• We have to deal with contradictory requirements.

3
Topic maps are simple, or what?

• Three link types, all extended topics,
  associations, facets.
• Topic have 0-several names and occurrences, and
  there are scopes.
• And that's basically it.
• Topic maps are ridiculously simple.

4
Simplicity does not precede complexity, but
follows it

• Thanks to Paul Prescod.
• General law in the history of science
• Theories, soon after they are first expressed,
  are seen as extremely complex.
• See Newton's gravity, Maxwell's electrodynamics.
• When applied,
• theories are simplified and reduced to their
  applicable core.
• only parts are used.
• Underlying concepts become part of the shared
  culture.

5
The heritage
HyTime 2
HyTime 1
Topic Maps
SGML
Xpointer, Xpath, Xlink
XML
XTM
Added complexity
Added simplicity
6
The simplicity traps

• Simple is useful now
• Will it still be useful tomorrow?
• Simple is enough
• If reality is complex, simple description may
  prove inappropriate.
• Simple is easy
• Provided the underlying foundations are known
• Simple is short
• But it presupposes many predefined things.

7
The complexity traps

• Allowing for anyone adding their own stuff should
  make everybody happy. But everyone will always
  find a reason to be unhappy.
• Too many options kill the baby.
• Being loose doesn't helpTranslations become
  quickly unmanageable.
• Complexity level rises exponentially.
• There is no reason to put an end to that process.

8
The contradiction

• Giving satisfaction to technical people might
  result in decision makers losing interest.
• If something is technically not correct, it will
  not fly for long.

9
XTM XML Topic Maps

• TopicMaps.Org
• An activity of TopicMaps.Org, a group hosted by
  IDEAlliance
• Aims to XML-ize the ISO Topic Maps standard
  (ISO/IEC 132502000)
• 3 meetings
• Charter adopted
• Modeling group has worked.g
• Chair Steven R. Newcomb and Michel Biezunski
• Disclaimer
• What I am presenting is my own point of view and
  has not yet been endorsed by the group.

10
The XTM to-do list

• User requirements
• Syntax and Style
• Interoperability

11
User requirements

• Improving connectivity.
• Knowledge management
• Semantic Web
• Public topics
• Ontologies
• Vocabularies
• Indexes, thesauri, vocabularies.
• Personalized views on information

12
Syntax and Style

• Syntax
• XML syntax (DTD, Schema)
• DTD versus Architectural Forms
• Style
• W3C style

13
Addressing

• From HyTime to
• Xpath, Xpointer, Xinclude

14
Linking

• Choice between
• XLink extended
• (without behavior)
• RDF

15
Interoperable applications

• Remove syntactical tricks (minimization)
• Templates
• Predefined set of topics and associations
• Common processing model

16
The semantic trap

• No semantic should be added
• Knowledge
• Processing
• Knowledge
• Topic map users should be able to reuse, without
  modification, the ontologies, vocabularies,
  thesauri, keywords, etc., in use today.
• Processing
• Nothing should preclude designing new, unheard-of
  type of software application.

17
Topic Maps for the Web

• TopicMaps.Org
• an IDEAlliance activity which aims to engage in
• technical, educational, and marketing activities
• to facilitate the
• creation and use of Topic Maps,
• focusing on but not limited to
• applications on the Web.

18
The charter

• Public, open, visible. Everybody can see what's
  happening.
• No cost for participating, however participation
  is only possible by invitation (voted by the
  members)
• No more than 1 vote per company.
• URL www.egroups.com
• Xtm-wg

19
Book on Topic Maps with XML

• Editor Jack Park
• Collective book
• Publisher O'Reilly
• BOF table tomorrow at lunch.
• Table 4

20
Topic Map Air

• Montreal 1999 Welcomes you on board.
• Montreal 2000 Keep your seat-belt fastened,
  we're entering a zone of turbulence
• We hope to reach soon our cruise speed.

21
Web sites

• www.infoloom.com
• www.topicmaps.com
• www.hytime.org
• www.y12.doe.gov/sgml/sc34/document/0129.pdf