Topic maps

Topic Maps is a standard for the representation and interchange of knowledge, with an emphasis on the findability of information. Topic maps were originally developed in the late 1990s as a way to represent back-of-the-book index structures so that multiple indexes from different sources could be merged. However, the developers quickly realized that with a little additional generalization, they could create a meta-model with potentially far wider application. The ISO standard is formally known as ISO/IEC 13250:2003.

A topic map represents information using

Topic Maps are similar to concept maps and mind maps in many respects, though only Topic Maps are ISO standards. Topic Maps are a form of semantic web technology similar to RDF.

Topics, associations, and occurrences can all be typed, where the types must be defined by the one or more creators of the topic map(s). The definitions of allowed types is known as the ontology of the topic map.

Topic Maps explicitly support the concept of merging of identity between multiple topics or topic maps. Furthermore, because ontologies are topic maps themselves, they can also be merged thus allowing for the automated integration of information from diverse sources into a coherent new topic map. Features such as subject identifiers (URIs given to topics) and PSIs (Published Subject Indicators) are used to control merging between differing taxonomies. Scoping on names provides a way to organise the various names given to a particular topic by different sources.

The most recent work standardizing Topic Maps (ISO/IEC 13250) is taking place under the umbrella of the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34/WG3 committee (ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 34, Working Group 3 - Document description and processing languages - Information Association).

The Topic Maps (ISO/IEC 13250) reference model and data model standards are defined in a way that is independent of any specific serialization or syntax.

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