[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Wikipedia and Topic Maps
Claude L Bullard wrote: > Would a wikipedia be improved if the topic map model were used > for creating it? Depending on your goals and what part of the "topic map model" you focused on, the "improvement" could be profound... The key to doing this right is to have the Wikipedia focus on identifying the "subject" -- not the "topics". Let someone else produce the topic map itself. Wikipedia should focus on making alternative topic maps possible -- not on imposing a single topic map on all readers. The really interesting thing about the Pepys diary project isn't the topics, it is that distinct "subject indicators" are being assigned to each of the objects, events, etc. in the diary. Given these assignments, it becomes possible for others to create their own topic maps that organize the various subject indicators into alternative taxonomies -- that express different views of the world or are defined for different languages. Unfortunately, the Pepys diary project is forced to create its own subject-indicators. Thus, their utility is limited. We would be much better off if the author had available a list of standard subject-indicators for subjects that aren't specific to Pepys or the specific text. Some of the power that can come from sharing common subject indicators can be seen in the fact that the author of the Pepys diary project uses the subject-indicator http://psi.ontopia.net/cia/factbook/#FR to indicate "France" rather then defining a project-specific subject-indicator. This means that any topic map which relies on the Ontopia subject-indicators can be used to access Pepys diary -- without any need to agree on the Topic Map itself or even on the language of the topic map. Ideally, each article in the Wikipedia would have its own subject-indicator. Then, people would be enabled to build their own Topic Maps that showed how each of the "subjects" fit into their own personal or group-shared ontologies. The opportunity to share information and compare viewpoints would be significantly enhanced. Too often, people focus on the "topic" part of "topic maps." My personal feeling is that the real power of the method is in identifying "subjects" in a fashion independent of the topic structure. Subject indicators free the knowledge from the constraints of classification. This is a very good thing. So, let Wikipedia define the subject-indicators and then start any number of other projects in any number of other languages and expressing any number of other world views which then map those subject-indicators to the particular biases inherent to the topic-maps that they are most comfortable. Free the data from classification. bob wyman
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