Topic Maps Constraint Specification Languages: comparing AsTMa!, OSL, and XTche

Abstract. Topic maps are an ISO standard for the representation and interchange of knowledge, with an emphasis on the findability of informa-tion. A topic map can represent information using topics (representing any concept), associations (which represent the relationships between them), and occurrences (which represent relationships between topics and information resources relevant to them). They are thus similar to semantic networks and both concept and mind maps in many respects. According to Topic Map Data Model (TMDM) [GM05], Topic Maps are abstract structures that can encode knowledge and connect this encoded knowledge to relevant information resources. In order to cope with a broad range of scenarios, a topic is a very wide concept. On one hand, this makes Topic Maps a convenient model for knowledge representation; but on the other hand, this can also put in risk the topic map consistency. A set of semantic constraints must be imposed to the topic map in order to grant its consistency