Controlled or Restricted Vocabularies - Essay Example

Controlled or Restricted Vocabularies Introduction Thesauri, controlled or restricted vocabularies, and language taxonomies are ways used to describe, as well as organize web pages or documents into logical, ordered groups according to their subjects through the use of categories or terms (Library Association of Australia, 1993). Library Association of Australia (1993) argues that thesauri, taxonomies and vocabularies can be created for a certain organization or subject area in which they refer to the subject, as well as the content of documents. They are necessary in organizing, as well as retrieving complex data using predetermined vocabularies or controlled languages. Therefore, a thesaurus is created so as to identify relationships between, as well as within the concepts. Hence, the Library Association of Australia (1993) state that the leading purpose of Thesaurus is to assist in retrieving information. Other secondary purposes include assisting in offering definitions of terms, helping in understanding of new subject areas, and offering semantic maps by showing how concepts relate to each other. In addition, Thesaurus follows a set of internationally renowned standards, which give guidance on the structure and format of terms. These standards as stated by the Library Association of Australia (1993) include ISO 2788 and ANSI-NISO Z39. Thus, this aim of this paper is to review the development and nature of the APAIS Thesaurus, and examine its organizational structure and features. Also, this paper will evaluate the effectiveness of APAIS Thesaurus as a controlled vocabulary, as well as provide various examples to substantiate the points. The development and nature of APAIS Thesaurus According to National Library of Australia (2008), the APAIS thesaurus database was established in 1978 and lists the subject terms that are used to index articles for the APAIS, which is a subject guide to literature in both humanities and social sciences. In order to ease online searching, the National Library of Australia published the APAIS Thesaurus in 1980. Therefore, APAIS Thesaurus can be defined as a list of subject terms, which are used in the APAIS. However, apart from serving the clients of APAIS, the published Thesaurus has also been used in several wide projects that require a highly structured list of Australian subject terms like the proposal for its use as a subject indexing when using the Australian Government Locator Service (Monash University Library, 2012). The APAIS Thesaurus structure and features According to Miles, Rogers and Beckett (2001), there are two forms of thesauri structures: thesauri with non-standard structure and thesauri with a standard structure. Thesaurus with standard structure refers to any thesaurus that conforms to various structural restrictions. It consists of a set of terms, term annotations, and term to term relationships among others. Thesaurus with non-standard structure refers to any thesaurus with certain structural features that are not defined by ISO 2788:1986. APAIS Thesaurus has a standard structure, which is similar to that of the Canadian Thesaurus. The APAIS Thesaurus contains only terms with the relations UF USE BT NT RT between them, which means that it can be drawn into the SKOS-Core 1.0 schema without losing any data. The following table shows the reference structure, which is used to connect terms in APAIS Thesaurus (Miles, Rogers and Beckett, 2001). Reference Abbrev. Meaning USE This shows the preferred subject Note It indicates the application of descriptors, or their meaning USED FOR UF Shows terms that are not preferred BROADER TERM BF Shows the class name where the subject is a member NAROWER TERM NT Shows members of the class that is represented by the subject RELATED TERM RT Shows concepts that are associated with the subject, but do not relate to a class membership (Miles, Rogers and Beckett, 2001). In the structural arrangement of APAIS, each issue consists of three sections. They include lists of publications indexed, the subject index, and the author index (National library of Australia, 1992). In the lists of publications indexed, the Australian periodicals and the key to literature are comprehensively indexed. The source book or the periodical for each entry in APAIS is listed in the key, which is on the front part of the issue. First, the newspapers and periodical are listed, then books and conference proceedings. The journal titles, as well as the National library call numbers, are provided by the monthly keys where they are cumulated to the annual issue of APAIS. Moreover, the names of publishers and subscription addresses are usually included in the annual key in order to help users in the acquisition and identification of the periodical indexed in the ISSNs and APAIS. The subject index is the body of the APAIS Thesaurus where the articles are entered under certain headings, which represent certain names and subjects. National library of Australia (1992) argues that the headings of these articles along with their respective reference structures have been controlled since 1978 by the APAIS Thesaurus, and its name authority file. This reference structure involves the use of references that direct its users to the appropriate headings; for example, Currency Use of Money (National library of Australia, 1992). Also, it narrows terms in order to direct its users to the definite headings; for example, Income tax low can be used as a narrower term of law; hence, directing the user to the exact heading. In addition, reference structure consists of related terms that direct users find the appropriate headings. For instance, instead of finance, credit can be used as a related term. According to National library of Australia (1992), the author index lists the names of authors of the signed articles, which are indexed in the APAIS Thesaurus. The index shows the author, as well as the title to the first subject heading, which is assigned to each article. The following are examples of the various signs and abbreviations used in APAIS Thesaurus. Abbreviation Complete word Abbreviation Complete word v. volume Jan January no. number Feb February ns New series Mar March bibl. bibliography Diagr. diagram col. Colored Illus. illustration Effectiveness of APAIS Thesaurus as a controlled vocabulary The APAIS Thesaurus has played a significant role in the development of information indexing, as well as retrieval. It provides rich vocabulary for subject indexing in various disciplines and has provided a firm foundation for the construction of effective thesauri over the past years. It covers a wide range of subject areas such as aboriginal studies, economics, language, law, scientific research, sociology and technology among others (Monash University Library, 2012). The wide range of subject areas makes APAIS Thesaurus an effective tool in organizing, as well as retrieving complex data using controlled vocabularies. However, APAIS Thesaurus does not strive to provide a comprehensive or uniform coverage in both humanities and sciences. Therefore, descriptors are created based on the range and amount of material indexed in APAIS Thesaurus. Conclusion In conclusion, a thesaurus is created so as to identify relationships between, as well as within concepts, which assist in retrieving information. The APAIS Thesaurus provides rich vocabulary for subject indexing in various disciplines and has provided a firm foundation for the construction of effective thesauri over the past years. Therefore, it is an effective, which is essential in organizing, as well as retrieving complex data using predetermined vocabularies or controlled languages. References Library Association of Australia. (1993). The Australian library journal. Vol. 42, pp.27-29. Miles, A., Rogers, N. and Beckett, D. (2001). Guidelines and case studies for generating RDF encoding of existing thesauri. Retrieved May 12 2012, from http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/reports/thes/1.0/migrate/ Monash University Library. (2012, May 2012). APAIS Thesaurus. Retrieved May 12 2012, from National Library of Australia. (1992). APAIS 1992: Australian public affairs information service. Australia: National Library of Australia. National Library of Australia. (2008, December 1). APAIS Thesaurus: about the APAIS Thesaurus. Retrieved May 12 2012, from Read More