This document provides an overview of a lecture on Topic Maps given by Hendrik Thomas at Trinity College. The lecture covers: (1) challenges of information retrieval that Topic Maps address; (2) an introduction to basic Topic Map concepts like topics, associations, and occurrences; and (3) the process for developing a Topic Map, including preparation, analysis, documentation, and implementation. The lecture also provides examples and discusses modeling questions and guidelines.
This publication has been originally published in paper. It's a collection of five selected articles published during 2008/09 in the digital eLearning Papers.
Towards a methodology of researching mobile learningJudith S.
Towards a methodology of researching mobile learning.
Judith Seipold (University of Kassel, Germany; WLE Centre, IoE, London)
Norbert Pachler (Institute of Education, London)
3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium. 27 March 2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK.
This publication has been originally published in paper. It's a collection of five selected articles published during 2008/09 in the digital eLearning Papers.
Towards a methodology of researching mobile learningJudith S.
Towards a methodology of researching mobile learning.
Judith Seipold (University of Kassel, Germany; WLE Centre, IoE, London)
Norbert Pachler (Institute of Education, London)
3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium. 27 March 2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK.
For our social media theory and practice class at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, we discuss the background and examples of Argumentation and Minimalism theories from the University of Twente's communication theories.
The Hamburg Netbook Project and its Evaluation by the University of HamburgLMueller
The slides were presented in the workshop "Mobile Learning in School" during the conference "Mobile learning: Crossing boundaries in convergent environments" (March 21-22, 2011 in Bremen).
The focus of this presentation is on mobile learning or rather mobile usage of the netbooks within the evaluated school project.
Pioneers of Information Science in Europe: The Oeuvre of Norbert HenrichsWolfgang Stock
In this presentation we discuss the works and influence of Norbert Henrichs (born 1935), a pioneer of Information Science in Europe. In the context of philosophy documentation, Henrichs developed in the 1960s a dictionary-independent method of indexing: the Text-Word Method. This method works exclusively with the term material of the documents to be indexed. It starts by using a variant of syntactic indexing, viz. the formation of thematic chains. Documents indexed via the Text-Word Method form the basis for relatively ballast-free information retrieval, but also for studies in the history of ideas. Henrichs was a leading contributor to the formulation and realization of the German Information & Documentation (I&D) program (1974 – 1977). This widely noted political program planned for the world’s entire scientific and technical literature to be made available in 20 specialized information centers. Henrichs served as scientific executive director of the central German infrastructure provision within the I&D program, the “Society for Information and Documentation” (GID), from 1980 to 1985. Over the course of the 1980s, the I&D program broke down—mainly due to a lack of financing. At the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Henrichs successfully developed a curriculum for information science, which—typically for Germany in the 1980s and 1990s—had no strong ties to either library science or computer science.
Humanists and Linked Data (Steffen Hennicke – Humboldt Universität) at Enabling humanities research in the Linked Open Web – DM2E final event (11 December 2014, Navacchio, Italy)
Definitions, issues and debates in the Digital Humanities.
• What are Digital Humanities centres? Are there new ones? For
example at Princeton!
• And organizations like HASTAC and http://www.artshumanities.
net.
• DIGHUMLAB draft mission and goals.
• European organizations, DARIAH, CLARIN, NeDiMAH, etc..
• Some famous and useful case studies, tools and methods
• Education opportunities.
• Getting started in DH..
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
For our social media theory and practice class at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, we discuss the background and examples of Argumentation and Minimalism theories from the University of Twente's communication theories.
The Hamburg Netbook Project and its Evaluation by the University of HamburgLMueller
The slides were presented in the workshop "Mobile Learning in School" during the conference "Mobile learning: Crossing boundaries in convergent environments" (March 21-22, 2011 in Bremen).
The focus of this presentation is on mobile learning or rather mobile usage of the netbooks within the evaluated school project.
Pioneers of Information Science in Europe: The Oeuvre of Norbert HenrichsWolfgang Stock
In this presentation we discuss the works and influence of Norbert Henrichs (born 1935), a pioneer of Information Science in Europe. In the context of philosophy documentation, Henrichs developed in the 1960s a dictionary-independent method of indexing: the Text-Word Method. This method works exclusively with the term material of the documents to be indexed. It starts by using a variant of syntactic indexing, viz. the formation of thematic chains. Documents indexed via the Text-Word Method form the basis for relatively ballast-free information retrieval, but also for studies in the history of ideas. Henrichs was a leading contributor to the formulation and realization of the German Information & Documentation (I&D) program (1974 – 1977). This widely noted political program planned for the world’s entire scientific and technical literature to be made available in 20 specialized information centers. Henrichs served as scientific executive director of the central German infrastructure provision within the I&D program, the “Society for Information and Documentation” (GID), from 1980 to 1985. Over the course of the 1980s, the I&D program broke down—mainly due to a lack of financing. At the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Henrichs successfully developed a curriculum for information science, which—typically for Germany in the 1980s and 1990s—had no strong ties to either library science or computer science.
Humanists and Linked Data (Steffen Hennicke – Humboldt Universität) at Enabling humanities research in the Linked Open Web – DM2E final event (11 December 2014, Navacchio, Italy)
Definitions, issues and debates in the Digital Humanities.
• What are Digital Humanities centres? Are there new ones? For
example at Princeton!
• And organizations like HASTAC and http://www.artshumanities.
net.
• DIGHUMLAB draft mission and goals.
• European organizations, DARIAH, CLARIN, NeDiMAH, etc..
• Some famous and useful case studies, tools and methods
• Education opportunities.
• Getting started in DH..
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...
Hendrik Thomas - Semantic Web - Topic Maps 2009
1. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Introduction to Topic Maps
23/02/2009
Dipl.-Wirt.-Inf. Hendrik Thomas
University of Dublin
Trinity College
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 1
2. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Outline
1. Part: Lecture (Today)
● Information retrieval challenges
● Introduction to Topic Maps
● Process model for the design Topic Maps
● Important modeling questions & guide lines
2. Part: Lab Exercise (Wednesday)
● Topic Maps Editor
● Modeling of a sample Topic Map
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 2
3. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Information Retrieval Challenges
fundamental problems:
● information flood
gigantic amount of information (invisible web)
heterogeneity of data (txt, movie, pic)
● information deficiency
● information losses
reading cages of the Marsh’s Library, 1701
objective: efficient, comprehensive and simple access to knowledge
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 3
4. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Introduction to Topic Maps
● Topic Maps is a ISO-standard for encoding knowledge &
the connection with relevant information resources
(ISO/IEC 13250: Topic Maps)
http://www.isotopicmaps.org/sam/sam-model/
● objective of Topic Maps
formal modelling of relevant knowledge aspects and its structure
= semantic information
● domains of applications:
● organisation of information spaces (e.g. digital libraries)
● management of information and knowledge
● interoperability and exchange of knowledge
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 4
5. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Origins of Topic Maps: book indexes
Associations
Gorda Sound see North Sound
Little Dix Bay .................... 89
North Sound ....................... 90
Road Harbour see also Road Town ... 73
Road Town ...................... 69,71
Spanish Town ................... 81,82
Tortola ........................... 67
Virgin Gorda ...................... 77
Topics Occurrences
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 5
6. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Basic elements of a Topic Map (TAO)
● Topics (nodes)
represent all relevant subjects
Trinity
● Associations (edges) College
represent relations between the
subjects Hendrik Thomas
● Occurrences
connect subjects with relevant
information resources
CV
Steve Pepper: The TAO of Topic Maps - Finding the Way in the Age of Infoglut, 2002
http://www.ontopia.net/topicmaps/materials/tao.html
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 6
7. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Topics
● topics are surrogates or “proxies” (inside the computer) for the
subjects that you want to talk about
● subject can be anything = persons, objects, thoughts
(abstract or real)
● each subject is represented by exactly one topic!
● objective: topics become “binding points” for everything
that is known about a given subject
topic as a digital representation subject in the real world
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 7
8. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Topic Names
● topics can have multiple names
● application can choose appropriate names depending on context
● more than one language
● synonyms
● examples: TU Ilmenau (patent documents)
● University of Applied Science in Ilmenau
● Technische Hochschule Ilmenau
● TU-Ilmenau
● TUI
● Technical University of Ilmenau
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 8
9. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Topic Types
● topic types represent a group of similar topics
● a topic type represents the class of which the topic is an instance
● examples:
● Topic „Angela Merkel“ is of the topic type „human“
● Topic „Trinity College” is of the topic type „university“
● topic types are topics every topic can be modeled
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 9
10. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
XTM Version 1.0 – Topic Maps XML Representation
Unique identifier in the topic map
<topic id=“123”> Can be system assigned
<baseName>
<baseNameString>Spanish Town</baseNameString>
</baseName>
<instanceOf>
Topic Name
<topicRef xlink:href=“#Town”/>
</instanceOf>
Topic Type
</topic>
<topic id=“Town”>
<baseName><baseNameString>Town</baseNameString>
</baseName>
</topic>
XTM Version 1.0 Standard
http://www.topicmaps.org/xtm/
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 10
11. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Occurrences
● occurrence model relations between
information resources and topics
● occurrences can be everything (files,
database tables, etc.)
● occurrences can be
● external: reference to an
external resources = URL
● internal:
key-value-pairs as part of the
topic map
● occurrence types are topics
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 11
12. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
XTM Version 1.0 – Topic Maps XML Representation
<topic id=“789”>
<baseName>
<baseNameString>Dublin</baseNameString>
</baseName>
Occurrence Type
<occurrence>
External Occurrence
<instanceOf> <topicRef xlink:href=“#portal”/> </instanceOf>
<resourceRef xlink:href=“http://dublin.ie” />
</occurrence>
<occurrence>
<instanceOf> <topicRef xlink:href=“#size”/> </instanceOf>
Internal Occurrence <resourceData>117,8 square km</resourceData>
</occurrence>
/topic>
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 12
13. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Subject Identification
• subject locator (URL)
if a topic represents a
Dublin -http://de.wikipedia.org /wiki/Ilmenau -
addressable object
»Topic« »Subject Locator« »Subjekt«
e.g. webpage, picture
• subject identifier (URL) »Subjekt Indicator«
Dublin
if a topic represents a The capital of
the irisch nation
non-addressable object,
is Dublin,
situated at the
east cost of the
u--
e.g. a town, me, you »Subject Identifier«
i ki/ Il
me
na irland …
PSI rg /w
ia.o
i ped
Published Subject Indicator (PSI) t p:/
/ de.
w ik
- -ht
create a common vocabulary Dublin
Dublin
»Topic« »Subjekt«
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 13
15. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Merging – automatic integration of Topic Maps
Topic Map A Topic Map B
»Subject-Identifier« »Subject-Identifier«
http://wiki.de/ilmenau http://wiki.de/ilmenau
two topics will be merged, Ilmenau »Topic« Ilmenau »Topic«
if both have an equal: »Occurrence Type« »Occurrence Type«
Zip Code
Postleitzahl Inhabitants
• subject identifier (PSI)
98693 26540
• subject locator »Internal Occurrence« »Internal Occurrence«
Topic Map C MERGING
• item identifier (topic id)
• … »Occurrence Type«
Zip Code
»Internal Occurrence«
98693 »Subject-Identifier«
»Internal Occurrence« Ilmenau http://wiki.de/ilmenau
26540
Inhabitants
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 »Occurrence Type« 15
16. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Associations (1/4)
● associations represent relations between topics (subjects)
e.g. „Dublin“ is part of „Ireland“
● topics and associations constitute the semantic network
● associations have always one type („is_a“, „part_of”, etc.)
● association types are topics every association type can be modeled
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 16
17. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Association Roles (2/4)
pupil of
Alexander Philosopher
● associations are not directed the great Aristotle
● associations have roles
(similar to UML)
education-relation
Alexander the great Philosopher Aristotle
Role: pupil Role: teacher
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 17
18. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Associations (3/4)
Alexander der Große Aristotle
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 18
19. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Associations (4/4)
association type: parent relation
role: son role: mother role: dad
Tom Mary Paul
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 19
20. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
XTM 1.0 – XML Representation
<association id=“12345678”> Internal ID
<instanceOf>
<topicRef xlink:href=“#teacher-pupil-relation”/>
</instanceOf> Association
Type
<member>
<roleSpec>
<topicRef xlink:href=“#teacher”/>
</roleSpec>
<topicRef xlink:href=“#Aristoteles”/> Role Type
</member>
Role Player
<member>
<roleSpec>
<topicRef xlink:href=“#pupil”/>
</roleSpec>
<topicRef xlink:href=“#AlexanderTheGreat”/>
</member>
</association>
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 20
21. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Scopes
• characteristics of topics:
topic names, occurrences and roles
• every characteristic is only valid in a specific context (scope)
● the name “Norge” for the topic Norway only in the language Norwegian
● an occurrence in the scope “user manual”
● an association “TM rule World” in the scope “fiction”
• scopes define valid context in Topic Maps
• benefits: context depended views + filter
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 21
22. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
XTM Version 1.0 – Topic Maps XML Representation
Scope
<topic id=“123”>
<baseName>
<scope>
<topicRef xlink:href=“#english”/>
</scope>
Topic Name
<baseNameString>Spanish Town</baseNameString>
</baseName>
</topic>
<topic id=“english”>
<baseName>
<baseNameString>English Language</baseNameString>
</baseName>
</topic>
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 22
23. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Topic Maps = meta-layer for structuring a domain
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 23
24. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Meta-Ontologies in Topic Maps
● Meta-Ontologies are build of: Ontology Level
● association types
pub is located in town is part of country
● role types
● occurrence types
O’brians pub Dublin Ireland
● name types
Instance Level
NO STRICT SEPERATION – a topic can be a type and an instance at the same time
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 24
25. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Process model for the
development of a topic map
Preparation
Implementation
Analysis Documentation
Rough Draft Detailed Draft
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 25
26. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Who is involved in the modelling process?
Person Tasks
project manager control and coordination
Experts provide domain knowledge
User potential user of the Topic Maps based application
Editor maintenance and input of data in the topic map
Developer implements the Topic Maps based application
ontology expert analysis of the domain and design of the topic map
combines all provided information and resources
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 26
27. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Model example
● task: develop an information portal for Dublin city
● a lot of tourism, historical and sports related attractions
● multiple information and information sources
● opening hours
● event plans
● descriptions
information are scattered and difficult to access
objective: model a topic map for this information portal
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 27
28. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Process model for the
development of a topic map
Preparation
Implementation
Analysis Documentation
Rough Draft Detailed Draft
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 28
29. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
1. Phase: Preparation
● first steps:
● Define project goals and context of the project
● Collect all relevant information sources
● Workshops and interview with involved persons
● key question:
● Which knowledge domain should be modelled?
● Who are the potential users?
● Narrow down the modelling domain
define guidelines
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 29
30. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
1. Preparation: Narrow down the modeling domain
● focus: boarders of the modeling domain
● What should be modeled and what not?
● Example: geological structure of the city
● granularity: level of details of the modeling
● What details should be modeled – where to stop?
● Example: every house in Dublin or only relevant once
depend on knowledge domain as much as necessary but no more
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 30
31. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
1. Preparation: Project frame
Question Answer
knowledge domain
target group
focus
granularity
relevant sources
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 31
32. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Process model for the
development of a topic map
Preparation
Implementation
Analysis Documentation
Rough Draft Detailed Draft
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 32
33. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
1. Phase: Analysis
● objective:
● identify detailed requirements
● analysis of the available information resources
● 1. source: structured data & unstructured data
● “Do not trust the schema/documentation”
● Murphy’s law
● 2. source: experts, file owner and user
● huge domain specific knowledge
● experts have very limited view = trained incapacity
● user provide open and praxis oriented view on problems
result of the analysis: collection of potential concepts
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 33
34. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
2. Analysis: Card-Sorting-Method
Sport
Sight
rugby field FIT
eis hall
city hall gym Garrett
Paul Durcan
Fitzgerald
Wicklow Ronan
Mountains Keating
Trinity
College
DUBLIN Sean
Lemass Thomas
Christ-
Parnell
church
Howth
Kilkenny Famous
London Persons
Cork
Cities
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 34
35. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Exercise – Your turn …
● develop a short concept collection for the information portal
for Dublin city, please consider:
● relevant concepts
● relations between these concepts
● relevant classes
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 35
36. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Process model for the
development of a topic map
Preparation
Implementation
Analysis Documentation
Rough Draft Detailed Draft
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 36
37. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft: Types
● unspecific definition of types:
● is a collection of things which have something in common
● is a collection of individuals which share at least one common attribute
● a type groups topic-map-elements together into a category
where its elements are designated as instances of the type
file:///C:/work_ibm/Dissertation/veröffentlichungen/07_Buch/Edit/type_samples_geo_form.jpg
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 37
38. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft – Topic Types Hints
● a type has instances if a type has no instances it is not a type
● if you ask if “foo” is a type, then simply check,
if things exists which are “foos’”
● samples:
● Geography is a category but not a type = no instances
● Country is a type because things exists which are countries
= Ireland, France are countries
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 38
39. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft – Topic Types
Germany Dublin
Countries
Countries Towns
Cities Sightseens
Sights
Spire Cork
Germany Dublin Townhall
Killkenny Museum France Cork Museum
Townhall Ireland Killkenny Spire
Ireland
France
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 39
40. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft – Topic Types
● one topic type is often not precise enough
● a topic can have multiple topic types
Ontology Level
Building Sight Irisch
Dublin Townhall Dublin
Instance Level
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 40
41. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft – Topic Types vs. Role Types
● instances are inescapably bound to a type
from the beginning of its existence till the end
● samples:
● person is a type, because someone is a person or not
● man or woman are also (relative) good types
● town mayor is a bad type because a person acts as mayor
only during his election time frame
the rest of the time he is a “normal” person role type
it is sometimes difficult to separate topic types and role types
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 41
42. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft: Topic-Typen vs. Role Types
Dublin
Working Place »Role Type«
»Topic Type« Mayor Job-Relation »Association Type«
Mayor »Role Type«
»Instance« Person Person
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 42
43. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft: Topic Names
● every topic should have at least one name human readable name
● choice of appropriate / default labels for subject is difficult ! ! ! ! !
»Concept«
„Dublin“
»Object« »Term / Symbol«
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 43
44. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
3. Draft: Create the network
● model instances of topics and associations
topics + associations = semantic network
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 44
45. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Exercise – Your turn …
● develop a draft for a Topic Maps meta-ontology
assign appropriate Topic Maps element to the concepts
● topic types
● association types
● association roles
● occurrences types (external + internal)
● topic names
● find instances
(topics, associations, occurrences)
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 45
46. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Process model for the
development of a topic map
Preparation
Implementation
Analysis Documentation
Rough Draft Detailed Draft
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 46
47. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
4. Documentation
● documentation of the meta-ontology of the Topic Maps
● list of the types + description
● Published Subject Identifier (PSI)
● Topic Maps graph supports understanding
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 47
48. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
4. Documentation
● Graphical Topic Map Notation (GTM)
● no official standard or commonly agreed method but
● use: GTMalpha Version 1.0 - see flyer!
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 48
49. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Process model for the
development of a topic map
Preparation
Implementation
Analysis Documentation
Rough Draft Detailed Draft
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 49
50. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
5. Implementation – Topic Maps Exchange Formats
● objective:
● represent Topic Maps elements in a
● computer processable and exchangeable format
● many different exchange formats obstacle to the TM development
● LTM – Linear Topic Map Notation
● XTM – XML Topic Maps (Version 1.0 and 2.0)
common standard for the exchange of topic maps
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 50
51. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
5. Implementation – Topic Maps Editors
● (unfortunately) only few usable and useful tools
major disadvantage of Topic Maps
● Topic Maps editors:
● TM4L – Topic Map 4 E-Learning (open source)
http://compsci.wssu.edu/iis/nsdl/download.html
● tmedit – Topic-Maps-Editor (open source)
http://tmedit.org/
● Ontopia Knowledge Suit (commerical but powerful)
http://www.ontopia.net/download/freedownload.html
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 51
52. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
5. Implementation – Ontopia Knowledge Suite (OKS)
● OKS is a collection of different JAVA applications
● Omnigator – text based navigator
● Ontopoly – Ontology editor
● Vizigator – graph visualiser
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 52
53. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Exercise for the next lab (1/2)
● Develop a draft for a Topic Maps ontology for a choose domain
● Create a project frame
(objective, domain, focus, granularity, target groups)
● Develop a concept collection
● Assign appropriate Topic Maps element to the concepts
● topic types
● association types
● association roles
● occurrences types (external + internal)
● topic names
● Find at least 1 instance for every type
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 53
54. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Exercise for the next lab (2/2)
● Download the OKS and task describtion
https://www.cs.tcd.ie/~thomash/
● Install the OKS and start the file startup.bat in the folder
C:xxxoks-samplersapache-tomcatbin
● Start a web browser and open the following site
http://localhost:8080/
● Tasks:
● Model your topic map draft
● Export your topic map (XTM 1.0 + Topic map without schema)
● Create a second Topic Maps and merge both Topic Maps
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 54
55. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Summary (1/2)
● ontology design is an art, not a science
● there is no single correct answer
● practice makes perfect
● many of the decisions depend on external factors
● the use of the ontology
● the organization that is going to use it
● systems connected to the topic map application
● the tools used on the application
● when in doubt, go for beauty
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 55
56. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Summary (2/2)
● advantages:
● Topic Maps born out of long tradition of indexing
● Simple concepts: Topics, Associations, Occurrences
● Human friendly modeling approach: “map”
● Designed with merge ability in mind
● Concise vocabulary: approx 21 elements
● disadvantages
● only few use-cases & no killer application
● not enough tools and APIs
● Very small but passionate community, good commercial backing
Topic Maps will rule the world but not yet!
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 56
57. Lecture Introduction to Topic Maps Dipl.-Wirt.Inf. Hendrik Thomas
Literature
● Lars Marius. Garshol, G. Moore: ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34, Information Technology
– Document Description and Processing Languages,
http://www.isotopicmaps.org/sam/sam-model/, 2006.
● Steve Pepper: The TAO of Topic Maps: Finding the Way in the Age of Infoglut.
http://www.ontopia.net/topicmaps/materials/tao.html, 2002.
● Steve Pepper, Graham Moore: XML Topic Maps (XTM) 1.0,
http://topicmaps.org/xtm/index.html, 2002.
● Lutz Maicher, Alexander Sigel und Lars M. Garshol (Hrsg.): Leveraging the
Seman-tics of Topics Maps: Second International Conference on Topic Maps
Research and Applications, TMRA 2006, Leipzig, Germany, October 2006,
Revised Selected Papers, Berlin - Heidelberg 2007.
Trinity College, Knowledge Management HT 2009 57