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Subject: Re: [tm-pubsubj] Subject Indicator and Subject Indicator Reference(again)
BV > | What I meant is that if we have to choose something to identify the > | subject, in a way consistent with the TM notion of what a subject > | is, by a *character string* - and that is my notion of an identifier > | - what could it be except this URI, which is really what TM authors, > | TM engines, and Publishers will all use ... LMG > Base name in a particular scope. (*hysterical laughter*) Agreed ... URI is a kind of name, relevant to a "technical" scope ... I have no problem with that. A name is nothing but a way to "address" a subject (in a certain scope). The URI is the way to address the subject in the network scope. Makes sense ... LMG > No, I agree with you that "identifier" seems right. It is what is > going to be used to identify subjects. On the other hand it has until > now been seen merely as something that points to the *real* > identifier, the subject indicator. I never liked that view, but I know > there are people who do, and who haven't been heard in this debate > (SRN, in particular). We have to bring them in this debate. > I guess there are two point of view here: the human-centric and the > software-centric. From the human point of view the subject indicator > is what counts, but from the software point of view it's the URI that > counts. This is the difference between *definition* and *identifier*. Definition is what can be understood by humans (hopefully), identifier is for "automatic" applications (be it bureaucratic paper files, or computers). Definition is *in* the subject indicator, and identifier is the URI. What makes all the system fit together (humans and machines) is a correct matching between identifier and definition. > On the other hand, what is in the topic map is the URI, so that view > could be said to hold a certain natural supremacy. It's not supremacy, just a common ground of agreement. Since computers can't have any notion of what a definition is - only humans can do that - the only ground of agreement between humans and machines is to share an identifier. Bernard
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