Indices, Meaning and Topic Maps: Some Observations

Abstract

Topic Maps were initially developed as an indexing tool, and many of the subsequent issues addressed by Topic Map research has reflected this initial focus. However, in regard to the semantic aspects of Topic Maps, indexing appears to have fallen by the wayside, replaced largely by formalised techniques, typically first-order logics. To some extent, this is supported by the literature on indexing itself, where treatment of semantic aspects is generally minimal, or completely absent; even when discussion does occur, it tends to be flawed by the adoption of a perspective inappropriate to the communicative situation which characterises the raison d’être of any index. On the other hand, philosophers and semioticians have long recognised the importance of indices as semantic devices. By examining two key discussions on the nature of indices: C.S.Peirce’s account of the index within the context of his theory of signs, and Martin Heidegger’s account of signs and Verweisung within the context of his unfolding of being-in-the-world, it is possible to begin plotting how a deeper understanding of the nature of indices can assist in developing the semantic potential of the Topic Maps technology.