Re: [ontology-summit] [Fwd: Re: Progressing a Units Ontology -virtual se

["Peter F Brown (Pensive SA)" <peter@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree with John.

 

I may sound like a cracked record on this, but ISO does have a standard that includes within its spec a clean method for distinguishing between an identifier of a "thing" (whether freedom, love, Harry Poeetr and the Philosopher's Stone or the concept of an Imperial pint) and an identifier that says something about the thing, such as a document.

We know that a fundamental part of the WWW architecture is cracked - the inability to use URIs to distinguish between a name of something and an address describing that something - so why not use a standard that addresses (excuse the pun) the issue correctly, consistently, coherently *and* uses URIs properly?

 

I'm talking about the ISO 13250 "Topic Maps" standards and its distinction between subjects, topics, subject identifiers and subject indicators (or descriptors).

 

Regards,

Peter

 

Peter F Brown

Managing Director

"Your GPS for Information"

Pensive S.A., Belgium

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Pensive S.A. is registered in Belgium, N° 895.677.610 (RPM Brussels)

Registered Office: Avenue de Mercure 13/13, B-1180 Brussels

Correspondence/Visits: Meerminne 7, B-2640 Mortsel

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John F. Sowa
Sent: mercredi 8 juillet 2009 13:29
To: Ontology Summit 2009
Cc: martin.hepp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ontology-summit] [Fwd: Re: Progressing a Units Ontology -virtual session]

 

Kevin,

 

There may be some people who agree with you:

 

KDK> Is it just me who thinks that looks a whole lot better,

 > as a target?

 

But the URIs as used in the Semantic Web have many serious

problems for designating standards:

 

  1. There is no way to tell when or why whatever information

     contained in a document designated by a URI might change.

 

  2. There is no way to specify what is specified by a URI:

     The document itself?  Some information in the document?

     What information in the document?  Why?  How?  By whom?

 

Standards organizations such as ISO have considered and

addressed these issues over long periods of time.  Their

universal identifiers are reliable, even though (or perhaps

because) they have been using old-fashioned paper documents

to specify them.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

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