Building a Topic Map Repository Xia Lin Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Jian Qin Syracuse University Syracuse, NY * Presented at Knowledge Technologies Conference, Seattle, Washington, March 2002

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Current Environment Topic map as a knowledge structure for content representation – The idea is easy to understand: TAO. – The standard has been established. – There is a great demand for a good content representation structure and tools. Topic maps are useful, but not practical … yet. – How many good and useful topic maps can you find on the Web?

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Issue 1: Standards Topic maps are ISO standard -- ISO/IEC 13250:2000. XML Topic Maps(XTM) defines an abstract model and XML grammar for topic maps. – XTM does not define topic maps at the implementation level. – Each implementation may interpret XTM differently or define their own “metadata” with the framework of XTM.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Issue 2: Implementation Topic Map implementation is hard. – There are no “magic” solutions for content representation. – It is labor-intensive and involves many manual activities to create a complete TAO. – There are no good tools for topic map creation. – XML is not designed to let end-users work directly on objects contained in a XML file.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin

Topic Map Repository Objectives – to integrate disparate knowledge structures – To facilitate the creation of topic maps – to promote user interactions with knowledge structures for more effective searching, browsing, and navigation.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Features of the Repositories A scalable and expandable architecture A neutral platform for integrating and displaying multiple knowledge structures. The interoperability with other knowledge repositories. Providing direct access to create, edit, and personalize the “look and feel” of interfaces and topic maps (without knowing XML and XTM). Directly linkage to the Web or designated Web sites to allow effective utilization of topic maps.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin The architecture Knowledge Repository topic maps Topic maps Topic Maps MYSQL Database XSLTXML Schema Java Servlets/JSP Integrated Displays Personal Customization tools Wrappers Other Repositories

KT2002 – Lin & Qin

XTM Implementation XTM is too “flat” – There are no levels of topics defined. Many topics are used to provide definitions and scopes of “content” topics. – No clear separation of metadata and data.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin TAO Enhancement T: Adding layers to topics. A: Defining specific association types Parent-child Synonyms O: Adding default occurrences Connect topics to search engines through pre- defined search strategies.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Hierarchically-enhanced Topic Map structures Theme Branch (category) Topic Knowledge Class (Topic map) Topic … (order)

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Define A Search Strategy for each Topic “soft links” – Static urls are often broken after a while. – Links through search engines will often recover it. – Links through search engines will also find new relevant documents If the query link is appropriately constructed.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Some basic Strategies Search by the topic term alone Search with the term and a scope term Search with the term and all its synonyms Search with the term and all the terms in its upper hierarchy Search with the term and all the terms in its lower hierarchy Search with the term and all the sibling terms

KT2002 – Lin & Qin

System Management Login Access control Editing tool Multiple display formats Import/Export functions

KT2002 – Lin & Qin System Demo

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Future Development Multiple Knowledge Structures – Contains not only topic maps, but also Thesauri Ontologies – Cross-reference between topic maps. – Thesaurus-assisted topic map construction.

KT2002 – Lin & Qin Future Development Visual Displays – Based on semantics – Based on co-occurrence frequencies Integration with other systems

KT2002 – Lin & Qin