Concept maps have been used in education, policy studies and the philosophy of science to provide a visual representation of knowledge structures and argument forms. They provide a complementary alternative to natural language as a means of communicating knowledge. In many disciplines various forms of concept map are already used as formal knowledge representation systems, for example: semantic networks in artificial intelligence, bond graphs in mechanical and electrical engineering, CPM and PERT charts in operations research, Petri nets in communications, and category graphs in mathematics. This article has described the design and applications of an open architecture concept mapping tool, shown how it may be used to support a wide range of applications and disciplines, with emphasis on hypermedia collaborative activities through networks and the World-Wide Web.
User experience with KMap in various applications has been positive in terms of ease of use of the interface to create concept maps. Users across a range of disciplines have created extensive systems of concept maps and linked annotation related to projects and research topics. There is a wide range of individual variation in the perceived utility of concept maps, ranging from users who find them so natural that they will not undertake a project without first creating maps, to those who do not find such visual expression at all natural.
The more formal concept maps with well-defined meanings require extensive training in the semantics of the visual language to be used effectively. We have found, as Nosek and Roth (1990) have reported from human factors experiments, that users can comprehend knowledge structures in semantic networks more readily than in textual form. However, in creating maps, users tend to treat formal maps in the same way as informal ones, and generate visual knowledge representations that are meaningful to them but do not comply with the strict semantics of the formal language. Since users have similar problems with expression in the textual form of the specification language, the problem appears to be one of creating precise specifications rather than one of the use of visual languages.
The KMap system described in this article was designed to have an open architecture enabling it to emulate a wide range of concept map styles and applications, and to integrate readily with other applications. The examples given illustrate the flexibility and power of this approach. In future, as heterogeneous multi-part document standards such as OLE 2 (Microsoft, 1994) and OpenDoc (Apple, 1993b) become more widely used, it will be natural to provide KMap functionality through an embeddable component rather than a stand-alone application. This will enable concept maps to be embedded as active diagrams in documents being managed by other applications, such as World-Wide Web browsers.
It is proposed that the support of concept maps should be regarded as a fundamental requirement for any hypermedia system architecture. The maps have an abstract structure as sorted hypergraphs which makes it possible to treat them computationally as a very general data type from which application-specific types may be derived. There is a natural link from the type structure to the visual appearance which makes it possible to manage their human factors in a uniform and consistent way. There are also natural forms of direct manipulation of the visually presented maps that makes it possible to implement interaction with them through a few powerful primitives.
Financial assistance for this work has been made available by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We are grateful to the anonymous referees for their detailed comments.
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gaines@cpsc.ucalgary.ca 22-Nov-95