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German FAQ
Topic Maps ist ein abstraktes Modell und ein XML-basiertes Datenformat zur Formulierung von Wissensstrukturen, auch Ontologien genannt. Topic Maps wurden 1999 als ISO-Standard ISO/IEC 13250 normiert und später als XML Topic Maps (XTM) in XML formuliert.
Eine Topic Map dient der Sammlung von Wissen über subjects, also Gegenstände oder Themen der Beschreibung. Themen können beliebige Dinge sein, wie z. B. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse. Es wird unterschieden zwischen adressierbaren Subjekten (das ist alles, was in einem Rechner gespeichert werden kann) und nicht-adressierbaren Subjekten (alles, was nicht in einem Rechner speicherbar ist, z. B. Sie, die Sie diese Seite lesen, die Idee der Freiheit usw.). Gegenstände oder Themen selber sollen und können oft nicht verändert werden, wenn über sie Wissen gesammelt wird. Daher werden Topics benutzt, die Gegenstände der Beschreibung in einer Topic Map repräsentieren. Weitere Bestandteile einer Topic Map sind Assoziationen, die Verknüpfungen zwischen Topics beschreiben und Occurrences, die Topics mit Dokumenten z. B. im WWW verbinden.
An ontology is a term in computer science and information science. It is the description of concepts and the relations between those concepts. It is used to define a domain and reason about it.
Ontologies are used in Topic Maps, artificial intelligence, Semantic Web, library science, software engineering, and so on.
In short, it is a form of knowledge representation in information architecture.
TopicMaps.com is a community website run by the Topic Maps User's Group of the Norwegian Computer Society.
Information about upcoming conferences like Topic Maps 2008 in Oslo, can be found here.
The domain topicmaps.com is owned by Standards Council of Canada on behalf of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34, the ISO committee responsible for the ISO 13250 Topic Maps standard.
TMRA stands for Topic Maps Research and Applications and is an annual conference. Users and researchers in government and industry meet here with researchers in other semantic technologies. It is organised by the Zentrum für Informations-, Wissens- und Dienstleistungsmanagement. It takes place annually in October in Leipzig, Germany. This year it will be 15-17 october 2008, at Campus Villa Ida.
Db4o stands for Database for Objects.
Db4o is the open source object database that enables Java and .NET developers to store and retrieve any application object, including Topic Maps, with only one line of code, eliminating the need to predefine or maintain a separate, rigid data model.
You can download a free version of db4o under the GPL license, but when purchasing an Alex license the db4o license is included.
(Source: db4o)
ToMaS stands for Topic Map Science Network. It is a project initiated by Lutz Maicher from the University of Leipzig.
The main objective of ToMaS is to found a European network for Topic Maps Science. Working groups, annual conferences, a web platform, scientific exchanges and summer trainings will be organized. As final result, the “Topic Maps Science road-map” will be published.
Topic Maps research is mainly being advanced by junior researchers from Europe, who especially profit from the network. Topic Maps profits from contributes to research in adjacent areas, so ToMaS will foster a closer linkage to them.
The involvement of industrial partners will ensure technology transfer. Faced by competition from industrial and emerging countries, ToMaS promises European leadership in science, in industry and in standardisation.
Currently, the two most significant events related to Topic Maps take place in Europe: the “International Conference on Topic Maps Research and Applications - TMRA” (http://www.tmra.de) annually takes place in Leipzig, Germany, and “Topic Maps Conference” (http://www.topicmaps.com) an annual user conference takes place in Oslo, Norway.
However, Topic Maps are just as advanced in US, Japan and South Korea and European leadership is also endangered by emerging countries like India and China, who are taking extreme measures to ensure the success of their scientific community. ToMaS is the necessary tool to bundle and to strengthen all European forces in the worldwide competition and to support the evolution of TMRA and “Topic Maps” conferences.
On a national, as well on an international basis, informal collaborations in Topic Maps science between the participating groups already exist but will be strengthened and extended by ToMaS. At the moment, 30 partners from 16 countries are interested in a ToMaS membership. The involvement of industrial partners (i.e. Bouvet, NetworkedPlanet) in ToMaS will ensure technology transfer within the network.
At this moment ToMaS is still a proposal.
(source: L. Maicher)
The Semantic Web is an extension of the World Wide Web in which the meaning of information and services on the web is defined. This makes it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content. This makes the web a medium for data, information, and knowledge exchange.
Some elements include Resource Description Framework (RDF), a variety of data interchange formats (e.g. RDF/XML, N3, Turtle, N-Triples), and notations such as RDF Schema (RDFS) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). All of these are intended to provide a formal description of concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain.
Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications. It is used as a general method of modeling information, through a variety of syntax formats. It can be used next to Topic Maps.
Where Topic Maps uses topics, associations and occurrences (TAO), RDF uses subjects, predicates and objects, called triples. The subject denotes the resource, and the predicate denotes traits of the resource and expresses a relationship between the subject and the object. RDF is an abstract model with several file formats, and so the particular way in which a resource is encoded varies from format to format.
Topic Maps and RDF both store, exchange, and use machine-readable information, in turn enabling users to deal with the information with greater efficiency and certainty. Their simple data models and ability to model disparate, abstract concepts have also led to their increasing use in knowledge management applications.
Topic Maps and RDF can be used next to each other by using the same query for both technologies. This way you profit from both methods.
The Web Ontology Language (OWL) is a family of knowledge representation languages for authoring ontologies. It is endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium, where Topic Maps are endorsed bij ISO. OWL ontologies are most commonly serialized using RDF/XML syntax. OWL is considered one of the fundamental technologies underpinning the Semantic Web. Just like Topic Maps, it has attracted both academic and commercial interest.
eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a method to define structured data. This representation of the knowledge can be read by both humans and machines.
Next to containing data, it is often used as a method to send data over the internet.
Everyone is allowed to use this standard.
OKS stands for Ontopia Knowledge Suite. It is a set of tools, for building, maintaining, and deploying topic map-based applications. It is manufactured by the Norwegian firm Ontopia, and owned by Bouvet. Bouvet ASA is a Norwegian provider of consultancy and development services within information technology.
Like Alex, the Topic Map Engine from Itvanced, OKS writen in Java. OKS only runs on mainframes; and this is where Alex comes in. With installing Alex on laptop, PC or PDA you can work with your Topic Map, when not in the office.
(Source: Ontopia and Bouvet)
TM4J stands for Topic Maps for Java. It's a Java library for processing topic maps. TM4J is open-source under the Apache Foundation license. The goal of the TM4J Project is to develop robust, open-source tools for creating, manipulating and publishing topic maps. The project consists several sub-projects.
The developers of TM4J used a different brand for consultancy, Techquila.
Topic Map engine Alex is published under the GPL license. This makes it more business-friendly.
(Source: Techquila and TM4J)
