What is ontopedia.net?

ontopedia.net is an arena for conducting experiments with a subject-centric approach to information and knowledge management. Everything we do here is related to Topic Maps.

What does subject-centric mean?

It means what it says: Putting subjects, not documents or computers, at the centre of our computing universe. Subjects are what people are interested in when looking for information or knowledge, and they should be able to find information about those subjects without bothering about which documents they are in, or which applications created those documents.

Can’t we do that by searching?

Well, yes, but only up to a point. Search engines are easily confused by words that mean different things, or things that have multiple names. If we are to be really able to find what we need, when we need it, we have to start organizing our information differently. By subject. That’s what Topic Maps is for.

What will I find here?

At the moment you will find an installation of Ontopia’s Omnigator with a few topic maps we’d like to share with you. Then there are a couple of blogs – one by Dmitry on subject-centric computing, the other by a friend of ours on – well, you’ll see. We are also hosting Steve’s latest topic map – on Norwegian opera. (Didn’t know there was such a thing? Neither did he until he started investigating.)

Our most important offering, though, is an experimental (and still rather bare bones) PSI server. We have an FAQ in the works which will explain what PSIs are, and why you need them. For the time being, your best introduction is Steve's paper The Case for Published Subjects.

Anything more to come?

You bet! We have lots of plans and far too little time to implement them all as fast as we would like! Watch this space.

Can I play?

We’d love you to, and we hope in time to be able to welcome lots of playmates, but right now we’re intent on getting our infrastructure up and running. Drop us a line, though, and let us know what you’re interested in.

Dmitry Bogachev
Steve Pepper

Applications

PSI Server

Norwegian Opera

Omnigator

TMV

Blogs

Subject-centric computing

Tapsa’s Concerts

Topic Maps

Dublin Core (DCMT)

Italian Opera

Norwegian Opera

Tapsa’s Concerts

more to come...