Multimodal Indexation of Contrastive Structures in Geographical Documents

This paper deals with indexation of multi-modal geographic documents by the mean of two constructs: geographic entities, and their semantic relations. These relations concern more specifically contrast or similarity between the entities with regard to the described phenomenon. Geographic entities are retrieved in both text and maps using proper analysis techniques. Contrast or similarity relations – identified as discursive structures in the text and as semiologic facts in the map – are then characterised by dedicated modules. The model induced by these constructs offers semantic indexing and querying possibilities. It also provides a valuable basis for collaborative interpretation of individual components of the multi-modal document. The whole system is deployed in a distributed environment, made interoperable by use of major web standards.