[topicmapmail] Data Model question : Identifying subjects

[Lars Marius Garshol]

* Peter P. Jones
|
| Does that mean PSI URIs should always be encapsulated in a
| resourceRef element then?

No, that's precisely the opposite of what it means. The correspondence
between XTM elements and TMDM properties goes like this:

  <subjectIndicatorRef/>  ====>  [subject identifiers]
  <resourceRef/>          ====>  [subject locator]
  <topicRef/>             ====>  [source locators]

| (Since it was supposed to be inherent in the idea of PSI that they
| be indicate the subject unambiguously - and hence, on past thinking,
| the mere URI would substitute as an adequate proxy.)

Correct, but the semantics of <resourceRef/> and <subjectIndicatorRef/>
are different. The former refers to the subject of the topic, the
latter to an information resource that indicates (describes, whatever)
the subject.

| That is, I believe what the text of the draft standard you quoted
| says there seems to indicate that 'subject indicating' and
| 'published subject identifying' are two different things and need to
| be indicated in the syntax as such.

What the draft says is that a "subject indicator" is 

  "an information resource that is referred to from a topic map in an
  attempt to unambiguously identify the subject of a topic to a human
  being. Any information resource can become a subject indicator by
  being referred to as such from within some topic map, whether or not
  it was intended by its publisher to be a subject indicator."

In other words, it's any information resource used as a subject
indicator by some topic map. A *published* subject indicator is
defined as a subject indicator that is special because it is

  "published and maintained at an advertised location for the purposes
  of supporting topic map interchange and mergeability"

So the difference is in the subject indicator, and not in the way you
point to it, and as you can see the difference is hardly clear-cut.
It's a human judgement whether a resource is intended to be a subject
indicator or not, and for the topic map it really makes no difference.
 
| No doubt this idea went the rounds at OASIS PSI committee meets. 
| What was the debate's outcome?

Pretty much what I wrote above. If you read the recommendation
produced by the TC I think that's the clearest description you're
likely to find of this. If you need the URI just say so and I'll post
it.

-- 
Lars Marius Garshol, Ontopian         <URL: http://www.ontopia.net >
GSM: +47 98 21 55 50                  <URL: http://www.garshol.priv.no >