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As We Really May ThinkAn Introduction to Topic
Maps

• Steve Pepper
• pepper.steve_at_gmail.com
• HUMIT1731, 2007-11-05

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Road map for this presentation

• As We May Think
• Vannevar Bush and MEMEX
• Engelbart, Nelson, Atkinson, Berners-Lee
• Is this really how we think?
• As We Really May Think
• Introduction to Topic Maps
• Understanding the TAO
• Browsing a topic map in the Omnigator
• What Topic Maps is used for
• 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• Existing technology hopelessly out of date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 thepush
  of a button
• the ability to create links between documents
• the ability to build trails, add comments, insert
  new documents, etc.
• Two things should be noted
• It never occurred to Bush to use
  digitaltechnology rather than mechanical
  andphotographic technology
• Everything revolves around documents
• The question, however, 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

• The subjects that documents are about 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
  associately
• He was right that organizing information in this
  way would make it easier to find
• But he was wrong in adopting a data or document
  centric approach to the problem
• His basic idea organize information the way we
  think was a great inspiration to Engelbart,
  Nelson, Atkinson, Berners-Lee, and others...

• But the MEMEX sent them alloff in the wrong
  direction!
• 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
• Consider 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

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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) arelike page numbers in
  aback-of-book index

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

• The TAO of Topic Maps

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Omnigator interface
Demo
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What 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 semantic portals

• Provides a ready-made information architecture
• Perfect for web publishing (web sites, portals,
  intranets, etc.)
• Site structure is defined as a topic map
• Each page devoted to a single subject
• User-friendly navigation paths defined by
  associations
• Content objects classified by linking to topics
• Offers the potential for connecting web sites
• Merging capability allows this to be done
  automatically
• Many such sites now exist in Norway
• forskning.no, Forbrukerportalen, Skolenettet,
  Matportalen, høyre.no, etc. etc.

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My HUMIT1731 project

• A conference web site based on Topic Maps
• Tools OKS Samplers and Navigator Framework from
  Ontopia
• (1) Create an ontology
• This is like a data model
• Describes what kinds of things (topics) the
  domain consists of and what kind of relationships
  (associations) Im interested in
• (2) Populate the topic map with data
• Create topics for all subjects of interest
• Assign names, identifiers, occurrences to them
• Create associations between them
• (3) Write a JSP application
• Automatically generates hyperlinked XHTML pages

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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 it is being seen as something even more
  significant...
• It could represent 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

• A response to the software crisis of the 1960s
• Programs were becoming more and more complex
• It was proving difficult to maintain software
  quality
• Modularity and reusability were seen as the
  answer
• The key concept was to 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 between
  objects (like associations)
• Basic concepts were developed at UiO 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 Copernican 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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The Topic Maps revolution

• 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
• Join the Topic Maps group in DND
• KM Forum / Emnekartgruppen
• http//www.dnd.no
• Come to Topic Maps 2008
• The 2nd International Topic Maps User Conference
• Hotel Bristol, Oslo, April 2-4 2008
• http//www.topicmaps.com