[topicmapmail] An Idea about TopicMap intelligent views

[Thomas B. Passin]

Lars Marius Garshol wrote:

> I think the bigger problem is how to make use of the "context". Maybe
> by showing all topics within a certain distance of at least two of the
> topics in the context, or something?

I have done some experiments about this by turning topic map fragments 
into mind maps - something like a "concise bounded description" in RDF. 
  It seems to have some potential.  I found it helpful to indicate the 
relationships between the focal topic and the once-removed ones.  It 
actually seemed that showing the role names tended to be more effective 
than showing the association names (usually, anyway - there does not 
seem to be one single way that is best).

When I went two deep, there was a problem of redundancy since I was 
picking up all role playing topics attached to the associations of tier 
one topics.  So associations that had more than two role players would 
show up several places, leading to a lot of complexity in tier two.  So 
far I have not come up with a good way to handle this situation, which 
is why I went to depth one.

At the moment I can display these concise bounded mind maps using my old 
copy of Mind Manager, but you would want to be able to hyperlink back 
into the topic map from the mind map, which I have not attempted yet.

Is there a place we could post graphics?  I am reluctant to include 
attachments and do not have a web site of my own.  If there were a 
place, I could upload a few graphics to illustrate.  Or as attachments, 
if people were willing and the list's policy allows.

Cheers,

Tom P