XML Topic Maps: Creating and Using Topic Maps for the Web

Primary Constructs

Topics

Topics are the main building blocks of topic maps. The word topic comes from the Greek word topos, which means both location and subject. A topic is a computer representation of a subject and may be applied to a set of locations. Each of these locations is a resource, called a topic occurrence. All occurrences of the same topic share the property of “being about” the subject represented by that topic. The subject of a topic is the primary characteristic of that topic, and the secondary characteristic resides in the topic occurrences. That subject can be expressed by pointing to a resource. Two cases are possible: either the resource itself constitutes the subject of the topic, or the resource merely indicates the subject. ...