Topic Maps and library and information science : an exploratory study of Topic Maps principles from a Knowledge and Information Organization perspective
Master thesis
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https://hdl.handle.net/10642/527Utgivelsesdato
2009Metadata
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Sammendrag
Purpose: This master thesis attempts to present a ‘state of the art’ of the placement of Topic Maps
(ISO13250) in Library and Information Science, through an extensive literature review and a synthesis
based on their principles. It was sited from a Knowledge and Information Organization perspective,
represented by the work by Elain Svenonius The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization
and some of the concepts of Knowledge Organization. This thesis also intends to present a conceptual
and theoretical framework for future research.
Design/methodology/approach: The study under review presents a qualitative approach based on
Grounded Theory principles to analyse the literature and build the conceptual framework for its
analysis. The literature reviewed consisted of more than sixty documents, which included, among
others, journal articles, conference presentations and papers, student reports and thesis, as well as a
book chapter. Moreover, this was complemented with information obtained from mailing lists, blog
postings and websites, and some unstructured interviews.
Findings: Topic Maps appears to be a development aligned within the tradition of Knowledge and
Information Organization but is completely adapted to the context of the Web and the digital
environments. In a LIS perspective, it is bibliographic meta-language able to represent, extend and
mostly integrate all the existing Knowledge Organization Systems in a standards-based generic model
applicable to digital content and online presentation.
Conceptually, Topic Maps is in the borders of the LIS discipline with Knowledge Representation and
Computer Science, where LIS conceptual models play the role of intermediaries by providing the
ontologies to the ‘bibliographic universe’. Topic Maps questions traditional LIS views and principles.
Even though some of them still remain the same, as the meaning-based identification of entities, the
notions of ‘document’ and ‘subject’ require further studies.
Some important applications give account of the capabilities and potentials for further developments
and research on Topic Maps in LIS. The main field of application is the Digital Humanities and TEIcodified
texts presentation.
Beskrivelse
Joint Master Degree in Digital Library Learning (DILL)
Utgiver
Høgskolen i Oslo. Avdeling for journalistikk, bibliotek- og informasjonsfagUniversitetet i Tallinn
Universitetet i Parma