[Data-modeling] Domain/Type equivalent Topics

[Ed Laurent]

I like this type, although it took me awhile to figure out how to use it
properly. The Type/domain_equivalent_topic type provides a means to link the
generic topic of the type/domain to the type/domain. For example,
"Motorcycle" should be a generic topic that is separate from the Motorcycle
domain. That way, user's can describe a generic motorcycle and add links to
the domain, as well as the motorcycle make type, model type, model year
type, etc. It is a nice "nexus type" in that it can serve as a container of
links to primary types/domains and exclude the "property types" that can
clutter a domain's list of types.

If you are going to change anything, I suggest you reciprocate the link from
the types/domains to their associated generic topics through one of the
"Included properties" that are available to all types (exclude
Type/domain_equivalent_topic). I suggest you add this property to domain
pages too.

My 2 cents,
-Ed


On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:56 PM, Dan Milbrath <dmilbrath at metaweb.com> wrote:

> Hi there Freebase modelers.
>
> We've had this bizarre type in Freebase for a while:
> http://www.freebase.com/view/filter?id=/freebase/equivalent_topic
> Which often generates the reaction: "Huh?"
>
> The idea was to allows admins to link a domain and/or type to a topic. It
> was originally conceived for three purposes:
> 1) a way to link a topic to a domain or type
> 2) a way to help people understand the relationship between topics and
> domains and types in Freebase
> 3) a way to help improve the ranking of Domains and Types in search results
>
> At this point, we're not using it for reason #3, and I'm not sure its
> providing anymore clarity to address reason #2. So the question is whether
> its valuable at all?
>
> Conceivably, the content of these topics could be used to document types or
> domains -- but there are as many cases where that probably wouldn't work so
> well. For instance, the text for the topic 'person' and the type 'person'
> probably shouldn't be combined. See:
> http://www.freebase.com/view/en/person versus
> http://www.freebase.com/view/people/person
>
> So if we keep them separate, it is useful to link them?
>
> Does anyone find the relationship illuminating in this case?
> http://www.freebase.com/view/guid/9202a8c04000641f8000000000016b94
> http://www.freebase.com/view/film
> http://www.freebase.com/view/film/film
> http://www.freebase.com/search?limit=30&start=0&query=film
>
> My guess is that we're still generating the reaction: "Huh?"
> My inclination would be to do away with the type, but would definitely
> encourage feedback on the idea.
>
>
> Thanks
> Dan (danm)
>
>
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