comment: WD 10 May 2005

Hello,
I've run through the "SKOS Core Vocabulary Specification" (which has broken
links for the RDF examples for CollectableProperty and OrderedCollection) and
the "SKOS Core Guide"...

It would be helpful to have an understanding about why instances of 'Concept'
are not instances of owl:Class, rather than owl:Thing (maybe it is and I missed
it?). I also don't understand why a table of contents would be written in SKOS
when it seems that a TOC contains a list of named topics/headings in the
document, not concepts. In this vein, I couldn't find info about how SKOS
relates to topic map integration. Practically all the examples in the
Specification and Guide of a 'concept' are identified by plural nouns (qualified
or not), normally all of which are indicative of a named topic.

What would be disjoint with Concept, leading to the question of its scope. (Is
it perhaps "Thing"?) The Word Net definition of 'concept' is an "abstract or
general idea inferred or derived from specific instances" -- this sounds like a
definition of a Class. The Word Net definition of 'class' is "a collection of
things sharing a common attribute"... So, do you see distinct properties
associated with 'Concept' and its disjoint, and if not, what is being gained by
using it as a flag of some sort... last, the definition of 'topic' is

	(1) subject, topic, theme -- (the subject matter of a conversation or
discussion;
	"he didn't want to discuss that subject"; "it was a very sensitive topic"; "his
	letters were always on the theme of love")

	(2) topic, subject, issue, matter -- (some situation or event that is thought
about;
	"he kept drifting off the topic"; "he had been thinking about the subject for
	several years"; "it is a matter for the police")

It's not clear from the document what the relationships are between thing,
class, concept, topic, and subject (i.e., your working data model). Any light
you shed on this is much appreciated.

Thanks,
John McClure

Received on Thursday, 14 July 2005 19:17:11 UTC