topConceptOf

topConceptOf is an object property defined in the SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) vocabulary. It asserts that a given skos:Concept is a top concept in a particular skos:ConceptScheme. In RDF terms, the domain of topConceptOf is skos:Concept and the range is skos:ConceptScheme. The property is the inverse of skos:hasTopConcept, which runs from a concept scheme to its top concepts.

Usage and semantics: topConceptOf identifies the highest-level concepts within a scheme, i.e., concepts that have no broader concepts within that scheme. A concept scheme may have one or more top concepts, and a top concept can participate in broader or narrower relations that are defined outside the scope of a specific scheme.

Practical role: In knowledge organization and presentation, top concepts provide entry points for navigation, browsing, and hierarchical visualization of a scheme. They help users understand the structure of the vocabulary and access related concepts through the scheme’s hierarchy.

Example: ex:Biology skos:topConceptOf ex:BiologyScheme. The inverse relationship would also hold: ex:BiologyScheme skos:hasTopConcept ex:Biology.

Relationships: topConceptOf is used alongside other SKOS properties such as skos:broader, skos:narrower, and skos:hasTopConcept to express and traverse hierarchical structures within concept schemes.

See also: skos:hasTopConcept, skos:broader, skos:Concept, skos:ConceptScheme.