XML Topic Maps: Creating and Using Topic Maps for the Web

Transmitting the Word

Historically, language has been transmitted through writing, printing, and dynamic visuals.

Writing.

Within most cultures, at first there was a pictographic writing system. This was eventually replaced by the use of an alphabet. Prior to this change, readers and writers were required to learn and remember a very large number of images, a feat that could be achieved by only a small minority. This elite group of priests and scribes enjoyed a knowledge monopoly that gave them great power [Postman 1982]. With the advent of the alphabet, many more people had access to information, shifting the balance of power. Written material became more democratically available and a bit more comprehensible. At the same time, this was the ...