xml-dev - Re: "RDF + Topic Maps" = The Future

[Martin Bryan <mtbryan@sgml.u-net.com>]

Lisa wrote:

> It's not a question of which one is better.
>
> It's a question of figuring out what we want to do first, now
> that we are going to be able to use them together.

Its not a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, its a
question of what can you do with each of them given their unique properties.
Like chalk and cheese they serve very different pruposes. An RDF statement
normally assigns a set of characteristics to a single resource, either by
being embedded within that resource or be referencing it. Topic Maps state
which sets of resources share a single characteristic. They also has the
advantage of being able to characterize characteristics (using scopes and
associations).

> It's downright exciting!

Both RDF and Topic Maps have the same weakness: They are only as good as the
semantics they are based on. Neither provides a standardized mechanism for
recording the meaning of the characteristic