[topicmapmail] Announcement of XML Schema for ISO 13250Topic Maps

[Patrick Durusau]

David,

This issue began with Martin's assertion that administrators need element names
specific to their local systems in order to troubleshoot query problems.

David RR Webber wrote:

> Message text written by Patrick Durusau
> >The more complex a topicmap becomes the more difficult it will be for
> administrators to trouble shoot problems by manual examination of the
> underlying
> topic map. I suspect specialized tools will be developed to implement, test
> and
> maintain topicmaps, particularly those that have any significant size. Not
> quite
> the Indiana Jones type image we might like to project but certainly the
> reality
> of working with complex information systems.
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>

<snip>

>
> Two months later the first live data came off the system.  The VP's
> and the field managers looked at the printed charts and the
> on-screen tables.  "That's impossible - doesn't make any sense"
> where the general comments.  Because not all products followed
> all the 30 data points - the statistics - while mathematically completely
> correct - were meaningless.

>
> This is the trap and the issue that Martin is envisioning.  While
> biblical uses of TM's are interesting - the killer app' is clearly
> business analysis.   Hard experience teaches us - that unless
> the end users can exactly understand the information path - and can
> verify and authenticate it - then all you have is meaningless
> statistics.
>

>From a design standpoint, users do have to "verify and authenticate"
information paths but that hardly will occur in topicmap syntax (ISO 13250 or
XTM). The issues raised in your example could hardly be solved by an
administrator having easy to use (in Martin's sense) syntax since the basic
design was flawed in not providing the information desired by the users. Badly
designed topicmaps will not be a killer app' in any arena, whatever syntax is
used in its construction.

BTW, biblical uses of TM's are more than interesting. Religious book sales for
1999 were $1.2 billion (AAP, http://www.publishers.org/home/stats/index.htm).
That figure does not include professional books and other materials relevant to
biblical studies. It does inlcude non-biblical materials but most of the
techniques for TM's and biblical studies would transfer fairly directly to
other religious traditions.

Not to mention that if we solve the problems of overlapping, concurrent
hierarchical structures, scopes and reference schemes in multiple languages for
biblical texts, those experiences are directly applicable to solving the
internationalization problems so recently discovered by the business world.

<snip>

>
> Let's build topicmaps mechanisms that can solve real business
> problems quickly and consistently.  It might not be so intellectually
> satisfying - but it will work - and it will fund the next level of
> research after that.  Sorry to be so pragmatic for a New Year!
>

I hope that TM's are used to "solve real business problems quickly and
consistently." But only solving the current flat-lander text and analysis
problems of business does not seem to me to be very pragmatic. It may lock
those businesses into static views that may prevent long term development.
Support for Unicode was not been seen as "pragmatic" until the business
community "discovered" there were customers that did not use the ASCII
character set. Perhaps a mix of "intelluctually satisfying" and "pragmatic"
problems would be best.


Patrick

--
Patrick Durusau
Director of Research and Development
Society of Biblical Literature
pdurusau@emory.edu