Cristiana Bolchini and others in And What Can Context Do For Data? have started down an interesting path for exploration.
That all data exists in some context is an unremarkable observation until one considers how often that context can be stated, attributed to data, to say nothing of being used to filter or access that data.
Bolchini introduces the notion of a context dimension tree (CDT) which “models context in terms of a set of context dimensions, each capturing a different characteristic of the context.” (CACM, Nov. 2009, page 137) Note that dimensions can be decomposed into sub-trees for further analysis. Further operations combine these dimensions into the “context” of the data that is used to produce a particular view of the data.
Not quite what is meant by scope in topic maps but something a bit more nuanced and subtle. I would argue (no surprise) that the context of a subject is part and parcel of its identity. And how much of that context we choose to represent will vary from project to project.
Further reading:
Bolchini, C., Curino, C. A., Quintaretti, E., Tanca, L. and Schreber, F. A. A data-oriented study of context models. SIGMOD Record, 2007.
Bolchini, C., Quintaretti, E. and Rossato, R. Relational data tailoring through view composition. In Proc. Intl. Conf. on Conceptual Modeling (ER’2007). LNCS. Nov. 2007
Context-ADDICT (its an acronym, I swear!) Website for the project developing this line of research. Prototype software available.