This paper follows up from an initial note drafted by Andrew Townley as a result of discussions held during Pensive’s research and developer boot camp held in Vienna in July 2007. The two most important themes discussed were the role and capture of context within a specific topic map, and how the Topic Maps paradigm - specifically the XTM specification - would allow the linking and efficient use of Topic Maps deployed on a massive scale, such as the Internet, to support extremely large-scale information sharing. These two subjects initially seemed separate concerns, however, upon reflection and further discussion, it was clear that they are intertwined. Since July, further research and investigation have been done into these subjects.

In the following we will present a summary of both the initial questions raised in Vienna and why they are important as well as the state of our current thinking on these two issues.

We start with some initial thoughts regarding the importance of issues related to context in large-scale Topic Maps applications, along with some of the key questions that arose during our discussions. These questions will then be addressed in more detail in the following sections.

The goal of this paper is to put forward some ideas in a broader forum and elicit feedback and alternative perspectives. It is possible that these ideas have already been discussed elsewhere, and we are simply not aware of any consensus previously reached regarding them. Hopefully, this paper will help to clarify some of these issues and lead towards practical solutions.

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