[sc34wg3] RM comment: parid2901

[Patrick Durusau]

Greetings!

A new comment on the latest RM draft:

REF: parid2901

TXT: Many of the key advantages of the Topic Maps paradigm derive from 
the achievement of its primary objective, the "Subject Location 
Uniqueness Objective", which is to make everything known about every 
subject in a topic space accessible from a single location within that 
space. The achievement of the Subject Location Uniqueness Objective 
means that the efficiency with which users can find information is 
maximized, not only because the subject's single location, once found, 
acts as a comprehensive catalog of the things that are known about it, 
but also because the subject's location can be found in terms of any of 
its relationships to other subjects.

FIX: The key advantages of the Topic Map paradigm include: 1) All the 
information about a subject can be discovered from a single location, 2) 
A subject can be found on the basis of its relationship to other 
subjects, 3) Topic maps can be merged without loss of information, 
thereby automatically increasing the information available on any given 
subject. These advantages flow from the primary objection of the Topic 
Maps paradigm, that is to make all the information known about a subject 
accessible from a single location. That objective is known as the 
"Subject Location Uniqueness Objective" or "SLUO."
 
COM: Note that I have listed the "key advantages" rather than just 
jumping into saying how we get there with topic maps. Rather than extol 
the SLUO, I think we need to focus in the introduction on why topic maps 
are important, to induce the reader to continue onwards.

I think we need to give serious consideration to changing the name of 
the "SLUO." One suggestion that comes to mind is the "Unique Subject 
Location Objective" or "USLO." I don't know that it is really necessary 
to include the "location" language in the objective and would be just as 
pleased with "Unique Subject Objective" or "USO." That a subject has a 
unique location in the topic map is a result of the merging rules, and 
is the key to the paradigm but I don't know that the current name is a 
real marketing winner.
 
END:

Patrick

-- 
Patrick Durusau
Director of Research and Development
Society of Biblical Literature
pdurusau@emory.edu
Co-Editor, ISO Reference Model for Topic Maps