[topicmapmail] Processing Model issues

[Murray Altheim]

Michel Biezunski wrote:
> [Paul Prueitt:]
> 
> > I am not a Topic Map insider, (not even knowing what PSI stands
> > for) but the
> > issue of process models for formalism about the knowledge of humans, well
> > this is something I do work on.
> 
> PSI stands for "Published Subject Identifier"
> It is a resource that serves to express what is the subject identity of a
> topic, ie. what a topic actually means. It does not have to be explanatory, 
> the only thing which is really needed is
> that it's a resource that is publicly known and is used by all topic map
> users to refer to exactly the same thing.
>
> Whether the resource is interpreted as being itself the subject of the topic
> (addressable subject)
> or indicating what the subject is (non-addressable subject) is indicating by
> the type of pointer used to refer to it.
>
> The main point of PSIs is that they serve as binding points and can be used
> to merge various
> topic maps by establishing that if two topics refer to the same subject,
> they are in fact the same topic.

This is *one* of the reasons why I'm interested in the Cyc ontology: it's
a great source of subject identifiers, regardless of their actual 
mechanical functionality within the Cyc KB, or a topic map engine reading
an XTM version of the same. Each Cyc constant has a nice human description,
and anyone using one of the 3000 PSIs established by the upper ontology
(eg., #$adjacentTo, #$DeadAnimal, #$eyeColor, #$True, #$False, etc.)

I have *published* the list of Cyc constants as PSI in Annex C of the Cyc
in XTM project:

    http://www.doctypes.org/cyc/constants.html

Note that clicking on any Cyc constant in this document takes one to the 
Cycorp documentation describing the Cyc constant. Regardless of the fact
that there is an XTM topic map backing up this list, these are currently
useful as Published Subject Indicators (PSIs), and can be used today in
anyone's topic maps. Two topics using the same PSI (as Michel states 
above) as a subject identifier will get a merge.

Anyone can likewise do the same. Let a thousand flowers bloom, et cetera.

Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim                            <mailto:altheim&#x40;eng.sun.com>
XML Technology Center
Sun Microsystems, Inc., MS MPK17-102, 1601 Willow Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025

      In the evening
      The rice leaves in the garden
      Rustle in the autumn wind