A Comparative Study on the Fitness of RDF and XTM for Metadata Processing

[[abstract]]網際網路（Internet）的應用與服務日新月異，網路上資訊資源的質與量也推陳出新、快速成長，隨之而來的問題是資訊的查詢和檢索變得越來越困難。詮釋資料（metadata）可以針對資訊的內容與外觀作適當描述，以利在網路環境中有效地找出所需的資訊，改進對數位典藏的控制和管理。 可擴展標示語言（eXtensible Markup Language，XML）具有描述文件結構和定義特定用途標示語言的特色，在XML的應用中，資源描述架構（Resource Description Framework，RDF）與XML主題地圖（XML Topic Maps，XTM）皆是由XML衍生出來的標示語言，可以做為網際網路上詮釋資料交換的標準。 本研究提出一個詮釋資料處理模型，並據此以比較資源描述架構與XML主題地圖這兩種標示語言對表達與處理詮釋資料之適用性。本研究發現資源描述架構是以資源為中心，且適用於不常變動或是較簡單的資訊；XML主題地圖則是以主題為中心，且適用於經常變動或是較為複雜的資訊。[[abstract]]The applications and services on Internet have made great progress. The quality and quantity of information resources on Internet have seen great change and rapid growth as well. Consequently, the query and retrieval of information have become more and more difficult. Metadata enables the description of the content and character of information resources and facilitates the location of wanted information in the Internet environment. It also improves the control and management of archived digital contents. XML (eXtensible Markup Language) provides a framework for describing document structures and defining markup languages for special purpose. Both RDF （Resource Description Framework） and XTM （XML Topic Maps） are markup languages defined by XML, and can be used for exchanging metadata on the Web. In this research, we proposed a Metadata Processing Model for comparing the fitness of RDF and XTM for metadata processing. We found that RDF is resource-centric and suitable for simple or more or less static information. XTM is subject-centric and suitable for complex or volatile information