Charter Revision Proposal
Bernard Vatant - June 27, 2002

Status of this document :
Proposal for a new TC Charter, conformant to current TC work, agenda and reflection status.

Statement of Purpose

This Technical Committee, herafter called "PubSubj TC" has been set forth to promote development of Published Subjects, as defined by Topic Maps standards [1], by specifying requirements, recommendations and best practices, for their definition, management and use.

Published Subjects are intended to provide both humans and computers with non-ambiguous identifiers for subjects, in particular those subjects represented by formal topics in topic maps applications. Such identifiers are necessary to ensure full interoperability of those applications.

Beyond topic maps, further applications of Published Subjects could include for example (indicative list):
Semantic Web, Distributed Ontologies, Interoperability of Classification Systems, Business Processes, Workflow, Search and Retrieval Tools, Knowledge Management, Diplomatic Communication, Cultural Dialogue...

PubSubj TC work and deliverables will address the following issues:

• Published Subjects Definition and Requirements
• Published Subjects Documentation : Structure, Metadata, Format, Syntax ...
• Published Subjects Management : Publishing Authority, Publication, Update, Versioning ...
• Published Subjects Best Practices : Examples and Use Cases

PubSubj TC will work in coordination with, and provide support for, other OASIS Technical Committees working on specific Published Subjects, such as GeoLang TC and XMLvoc TC.

Proposed Deliverables Schedule

PubSubj TC Deliverables Schedule is proposed as following (June 2002)

1. Published Subjects - Definition, Requirements, and Examples (2002Q3)
2. Recommendations for Published Subjects Documentation Structure (2002Q4)
3. Recommendations for Published Subjects Management (2003Q1)
4. Recommendations for Published Subjects Use (2003Q2)

The TC will conduct business in English
Speakers of other languages are encouraged to participate

[1] ISO 13250 defines the notion of Public Subject, further called Published Subject by XTM 1.0 Specification.