Cosa sono le Topic Maps (e XTM)?
Per iniziare riportiamo di seguito alcune definizioni di Topic Maps disponibili in rete:
"Topic Maps is an ISO standard for the representation and interchange of knowledge, with an emphasis on the findability of information. The standard is formally known as ISO/IEC 13250:2003" [Wikipedia]
"A technology for encoding knowledge and connecting this encoded knowledge to relevant information resources" [www.topic-maps.org]
"Topic maps are a new ISO standard for describing knowledge structures and associating them with information resources. As such they constitute an enabling technology for knowledge management. Dubbed “the GPS of the information universe”, topic maps are also destined to provide powerful new ways of navigating large and interconnected corpora" [S.Pepper]
Dunque possiamo definire le Topic Maps come uno standard ISO atto alla rappresentazione di strutture di conoscenza e delle relative risorse informative.
Lo standard, oltre a definire un modello astratto di rappresentazione della conoscenza, fornisce anche un sistema di codifica dello stesso basato su XML e denominato XTM (XML Topic Maps).
"The XTM 1.0 specification is an XML syntax for expression and interchange of Topic Maps" [www.topicmaps.org]