Might I also suggest that the whole 'semantic web' / linked data is a
slightly more modern and possibly even more complete stack to deal
with similar kinds of problems, that is organizing data using
relationships.
The semantic layer cake seems to have all the equivalent standards to
topic maps, for example the triple at it's core to represent the
connections and serialization formats like RDF-XML (which again is a
bit verbote and not that easy to work with), Turtle, N3 etc

In my view there is nothing wrong with Topic Maps and they solve the
very kind same kind of problem that linked data promises to solve, but
I would advise to start learning RDF, SPARQL and OWL, if you're just
beginning to embark on the journey, simply because it is much more
widely used.

Lech Rzedzicki

On 21 October 2013 12:26, Stephen Cameron <steve.cameron.62@g...> wrote:
> So, I have bought the book (found it in Australia cheaper than postage from
> the US) and am looking forward to a good read on an interesting subject.
> But having browsed the subject today, this article below seems to be the
> best introduction I came across, the analogies to familiar things (like book
> indexes) being very helpful to my understanding.
>
> The TAO of Topic Maps
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:14 AM, Stephen Cameron
> <steve.cameron.62@g...> wrote:
>>
>> Topic Maps are something I have just discovered!
>>
>> Is this because I've not been listening, or, are they something thats been
>> tried and found wanting? A second-hand book XML Topic Maps: Creating and
>> Using Topic Maps for the Web is available on amazon.com for $0.01. You
>> cannot get cheaper, so this might be an indication of the later.
>>
>> Thanks for any insights you can offer.
>>
>> Steve Cameron
>
>