Defining Domain-Specific Facets for Topic Maps

With TMQL Path Expressions

Sven Windisch
Dr. Lutz Maicher

Topic Maps Lab

Natural Language Processing Group
Computer Science Department
University of Leipzig

September 30, 2010

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Agenda

Introduction to Facets in Topic Maps

Defining Domain-Specific Facets With TMQL

A Short Example

Conclusions and Outlook

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Overview

Introduction to Facets in Topic Maps

Defining Domain-Specific Facets With TMQL

A Short Example

Conclusions and Outlook

Sven Windisch, Dr. Lutz Maicher (Topic Maps Lab) September 30, 2010 3/23
Definition of facets

Facets are . . .
. . . clearly defined, mutually exclusive, and collectively exhaustive aspects,
properties or characteristics of a specific subject.

Example
Some person has a name, a date of birth and a birthplace. These three
characteristics are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. They are
facets of this person.

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Mathematical Definition

Any facet can be described as a triple, consisting of

I the parent identifier id(t) (i. e. whose Topics facet is this)
I the name of the facet n (e. g. Department, Format, Binding)
I the value of the facet v (e. g. Paperback, Hardcover )

f = (id(t), n, v)

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Famous facet examples

I Yelp lists lots of different burgers in San Francisco.

I The facets help you with choosing the one place that fits your need best.

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Facettable Elements of a Topic

Names
I Names are very useful, but need careful spellchecking.
I Special Name types (e.g. Forename, Surname) provide a more concise
classification.

Occurrences
I Occurences with short values are fine for faceting.
I Again, careful spellchecking is necessary.

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Facettable Elements of a Topic

Roles
I A Topic plays a specific Role, or not. Roles can therefore be used as
flag-like facets.

Topic Types
I Types of Topics are useful for distinguishing different kinds of search
results.

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Sven Windisch, Dr. Lutz Maicher (Topic Maps Lab) September 30, 2010 10/23
Don’t they come automagically?

I Automatic generation of generic facets is possible (Ueberall et al. 2008).

I But: Information needs of users are highly domain specific, while generic
facets are not.
I Domain specific facets must cover more than the the Topics
characteristics.

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Overview

Introduction to Facets in Topic Maps

Defining Domain-Specific Facets With TMQL

A Short Example

Conclusions and Outlook

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Why TMQL?

I TMQL makes navigating through a Topic Map very easy

I But: Full TMQL is much too powerful for our requirements. The path
expressions can do the whole job.

Definition
A path expression represents a sequence of navigation steps through the
abstract bidirectional graph of a Topic Map. Starting from given values (atoms
or items in a Topic Map), navigation steps along defined axes within the
context map compute new values.

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How to Define a Facet

Any facet definition resembles a simple path expression with the following
limitations
I The starting element must be a Topic that serves as Topic type for other
Topics.
I The possible result values are restricted to strings, because the names
and values of facets must be human readable.

The given Topic type identifier is replaced with the respective identifier of one
of the instances. The TMQL expression is then executed and the result is
stored as the facets value.

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Overview

Introduction to Facets in Topic Maps

Defining Domain-Specific Facets With TMQL

A Short Example

Conclusions and Outlook

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Example Topic Map

Mission: Create an office-location-facet for every person.

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Navigating the Topic Map

http://psi.example.com/person
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/mailing-address
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/container-containee-address
>> characteristics tm:name

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Navigating the Topic Map

http://psi.example.com/person
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/mailing-address
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/container-containee-address
>> characteristics tm:name

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Navigating the Topic Map

http://psi.example.com/person
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/mailing-address
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/container-containee-address
>> characteristics tm:name

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Navigating the Topic Map

http://psi.example.com/person
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/mailing-address
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/container-containee-address
>> characteristics tm:name

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From TMQL to Facets in Three Simple Steps

http://psi.example.com/person
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/mailing-address
>> traverse http://psi.example.com/container-containee-address
>> characteristics tm:name

I http://psi.example.com/person is replaced by
http://psi.example.com/Sven_Windisch
I The given query is executed, the result is Leipzig
I A new facet is created:
(http://psi.example.com/Sven_Windisch, Office Location, Leipzig)

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Overview

Introduction to Facets in Topic Maps

Defining Domain-Specific Facets With TMQL

A Short Example

Conclusions and Outlook

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Conclusions
I Domain-specific facets are useful wherever facets must link deeper.
I TMQL does a wonderful job for defining domain-specific facets.
I Defining domain-specific facets is easy.
I The used Topic Map must be well modeled and spellchecked.

Outlook
I Release: Maiana prototype in October, complete search engine at the
end of 2010

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