Difference between revisions of "Wikis As Topic Maps"

From Eugene Eric Kim
Eekim>Adsl-67-119-157-92.dsl.lsan03.pacbell.net
(fixed formatting; link to MarkupFreeAutoLinkingWiki)
Line 36: Line 36:


''You could use [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cjp39/Peri/MetadataSyntax PeriPeri's metadata syntax] to create typed links.'' {nid 19T}
''You could use [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cjp39/Peri/MetadataSyntax PeriPeri's metadata syntax] to create typed links.'' {nid 19T}
[http://www.google.com Google] {nid MJV}

Revision as of 12:44, 4 September 2007

TopicMaps have the potential to be a wonderful tool for organizing information. The data structure is great, but I have yet to see a good user interface for categorizing data using TopicMaps. {nid RQ}

Wikis have the potential to be that user interface. Wikis are widely used for publishing content both collaboratively and individually, because of their simplicity as a hypertext authoring tool. More importantly, their data structure already bears close resemblance to TopicMaps, as both can be represented as graphs. WikiWords often map quite naturally to topics. Links listed on Wiki pages can be thought of as occurrences. More importantly, BackLinks to Wiki pages can also be thought of as occurrences. {nid RR}

Wikis are used in a number of different ways, most notably as ContentManagementSystems and as collaborative spaces. When they are used in conjunction with blogs, they act as TopicMap-like support structures. {nid RS}

I'll use my own blog as an example, but I want to point out that there are several other integrated blogs and Wikis out there. ChrisDent uses the same system as me in essentially the same way, except he uses MovableType as his blogging tool (I use blosxom). BillSeitz has hacked ZWiki into what he calls a WikiLog. SocialText uses KWiki as the basis for its tool. All of these systems exhibit the same behavior described here. {nid RT}

When I write on my blog, I often use WikiWords for names of people and concepts. This behavior is quite natural and usually requires little thought. If those WikiWords exist as pages on my Wiki, then the words link to the appropriate page. If no page exists, I can create the page, just as I would from the Wiki itself. {nid RU}

Over time, I may use the same WikiWord in several different entries. If that page exists on the Wiki, and if I look at the BackLinks to that page, it will list all of the blog entries mentioning that WikiWord. In other words, it maintains a list of occurrences automatically; all I have to do is use WikiWords as I write. {nid RV}

If you look at the pages on this Wiki, all of the WikiWords represent concepts that are relevant to me and my writings. All of these pages emerged organically in the process of StoryTelling. If you look at the BackLinks for a Wiki page, you can see all of the contexts in which I use the WikiWord. For example, if you look at the backlinks for "DougEngelbart", you can see all of the blog entries where I mention him. Those entries tell just as much about the man as the content on the Wiki page itself. {nid RW}

This capability works best over time, where concepts may occur repeatedly in unexpected contexts, and in a collaborative blog and Wiki environment, where it can reveal different usages and interpretations of concepts by different people, thus leading to shared collective understanding. {nid RX}

Using Wikis in this way allow people to create TopicMap-like structures in an organic, almost transparent manner, providing the benefits of TopicMaps without requiring people to dramatically change the way they work or the tools they use. {nid RY}

Asides {nid RZ}

The Wiki data structure resembles, but is not equivalent to TopicMaps. In order to make it equivalent, Wikis would need TypedLinks, which would enable people to define TopicMap associations. For example, you would be able to say that TurnOffYourComputer isA Patterns, where "isA" is a typed link between the two Wiki pages. With this feature (which we eventually plan on implementing in PurpleWiki), you could export Wiki content as a full-fledged TopicMap. {nid S0}

Some Wikis have disabled the WikiWord feature (most notably, WikiPedia and SocialText). I understand the reasoning behind this, but I don't think it's a good idea, especially in the context of WikisAsTopicMaps. more on this later. {nid S1}

References {nid S2}

JackPark's NexistWiki was the first attempt -- to my knowledge -- to generate TopicMaps using Wikis. RDFWiki does a similar thing with RDF, and it's based on the same observation -- that the Wiki's graph-like data structure resembles RDF. {nid S3}

In 2002, I wrote a paper, "Towards a Standard Graph Model for the Open Hyperdocument System: Enabling Interoperability Between Collaborative Knowledge Applications," that shows that most knowledge tools use a graph-like data structure, and that explores the benefits of standardizing on a metamodel for describing and manipulating graphs. KenHolman presented this paper at the ExtremeMarkup conference in August 2002. {nid S4}

Also see MarkupFreeAutoLinkingWiki. {nid GG6}


Suggestion {nid 19S}

You could use PeriPeri's metadata syntax to create typed links. {nid 19T}

Google {nid MJV}