[topicmapmail] How could I know what the Topic Map could do or apply?

[Murray Altheim]

=AEa=BA=FB wrote:
> To whom it may concern:
> I have read about 10 or 10+ paper of Topic Maps.And I have read ch.1 to=
 ch.7,=20
> ch.9,ch.14 of the book whose name is "XML Topic Maps=A1GCreating and Us=
ing=20
> Topic Maps for the Web=A1=A8.
> I still confuse that what does Topic Maps can do. I am a student who re=
ad for=20
> the MBA degree. My thesis may be research about Topic Maps, and I am=20
> interesting in it. But I can't find that I can use the Topic Maps or th=
e XTM=20
> to do what. Is there anyone could give me some example or opinion about=
 this?=20
> Maybe that can inspire me to have more idea about my thesis.
>=20
> Sincerely Yours
>                       Vince Chen

Vince,

I think part of the reason you're having difficulty is that the
question you're asking is a bit like asking, "what can I do with
wood?"  Topic Maps came about as a solution to a specific problem
-- specifically book indexing -- but due to the genius in its design
it can be used for many other things. It's essentially a graph
structure that maps onto an addressable space, pretty simple in
and of itself. Just like a block of wood, you can make a tooth
pick, a chair, or a sailing ship. It's really only limited by
your imagination. For example, if you think of your browser
bookmark file as a bunch of URLs, you could use Topic Maps to
organize those URLs. Or, using the graph structure you could build
an "ontology" of concepts (topics) and relations (associations),
and use that ontology to organize a body of resources (via URL).
That's what I'm currently doing with Topic Maps.

Murray

=2E......................................................................=
=2E...
Murray Altheim                         http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murra=
y/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK                   =
 .

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