Introduction to Controlled Vocabularies

© 2008 by ContextualAnalysis, LLC

Introduction toControlled Vocabularies

Presented by Fred Leise

ContextualAnalysis, LLC

The Round Table Conference

Society of Indexers

Sunday, July 13, 2008


About Fred Leise

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Intuitect (software for website creators)

ContextualAnalysis, LLC

Specializing in metadata and controlled vocabulary development

www.contextualanalysis.com


About Fred Leise

Recent Clients

Scripps Newspapers

Disney Studios

Harpo, Inc. (Oprah.com)

Dow Corning

Abbott Laboratories


About Fred Leise

Freelance back-of-book indexer since 1995

Scholarly texts in the humanities

President, American Society for Indexing


Goals for This Presentation

Introduce basic concepts and terminology about controlled vocabularies

(Feel free to ask questions or contribute examples at any time)


Workshop Overview

Indexes vs. Controlled Vocabularies (CVs)

An Introduction to CVs

Using CVs

Facets

CV Development Methodology Overview

CV Governance and Maintenance


Terminology Problem

Taxonomy

generally, any kind of controlled vocabulary

also a specific type of controlled vocabulary


Indexes vs. CVs


Indexes vs. CVs

Similarities

Concept identification

Term selection


Indexes vs. CVs

Differences

Item Indexes CVs

End product index term list

Usecontent locator

content tagging, website navigation, search enhancement

Project time weeks months

Methodology reading research


About Controlled Vocabularies


H. Wellisch

A list of terms that may be used for indexing, produced by the operation of vocabulary control.

What areControlled Vocabularies?


F. Leise:

A list of terms and term relationships designed to:

1. Collect similar information,

2. Assist content authors in consistently tagging content, and



F. Leise:

3. Enable users to find the information they need by translating their language into the language of the information store.



Equivalence (Synonyms)

Country = Nation

Chief of State = Prime Minister

Brunei = Sultanate of Brunei = Negara Brunei Darussalam = سلطنة

دارالسالم = بروناي برني


Hierarchical Relationships

Whole/Part

Automobile

Air bags

Engine

Seats

Steering

Wheels


Hierarchical Relationships

Instances

Buildings

Great Pyramid of Giza

Madison Square Garden

Petronas Towers

Sears Tower

Taipei 101


Examples

operation/agent turning : lathes

occupation/person social work : social worker

causal dependence friction : wear

agent/counteragent pests : pesticides

concept/opposite tolerance : prejudice

concept/origin water : water wells

Associative Relationship


Synonym Ring

Words with equivalent meanings (in a given context)

pound sterling = pound = quid

CD-ROM = CD = disk

chips = French fries

Houses of Parliament = Palace of Westminster

Types of CVs


Authority File

Has all the features of a synonym ring, plus preferred terms (approved terms/keywords) for tagging content.

Types of CVs


Authority File: Alphabeticalcommunity USE neighborhood

health and safety UF safety

levy USE tax

neighborhood UF community

parks UF recreation

rebate USE refund

recreation USE parks

refund UF rebate

safety USE health and safety

tax UF levy


Authority File: Spreadsheet

Preferred Term Variant Terms

health and safety safety

neighborhood community

parks recreation

refund rebate

tax levy


Taxonomy

Also called hierarchy

All features of authority files, plus:

Broader terms (BT)

Narrower terms (NT)

Types of CVs


Taxonomy

All terms must be part of a hierarchical relationship (no orphan terms).

May be presented in indented (hierarchical) or alphabetical format.

Types of CVs


total compensation . compensation . . base salary [salary]

. . deferred payments [deferred compensation] . . variable pay . benefits . . 401(k) plan . . health benefits . . . dental plan . . . disability insurance

Taxonomy Example (Indented)

401(k) plan BT benefits

base salary BT compensation UF salary

benefits BT total compensation NT 401(k) plan; health benefits

compensation BT total compensation NT base salary; deferred payments; variable pay

deferred compensation USE deferred payments

deferred payments BT compensation UF deferred compensation

dental plan BT health benefits

disability insurance BT health benefits

health benefits BT benefits NT dental plan; disability insurance

salary USE base salary

total compensation NT benefits; compensation

variable pay BT compensation

Taxonomy Example (Alpha List)


Thesaurus (pl. thesauri)

All the features of taxonomies, plus the associative relationship of related terms (RT)

Types of CVs

Building Permits BT Permits

Business Licenses BT Licenses

Business Taxes BT Taxes

Fees BT Licenses, Permits & Taxes; RT Taxes

Licenses BT Licenses, Permits & Taxes; NT Business Licenses; RT Permits

Operating Permits BT Permits

Permits BT Licenses, Permits & Taxes; NT Building Permits, Operating Permits; RT Licenses

Taxes BT Licenses, Permits & Taxes; NT Business Taxes RT Fees

Thesaurus: Alphabetical

Thesaurus: Indented

Vocabulary Terms Related Terms

Licenses, Permits & Taxes

. Fees Taxes

. Licenses Permits

. . Business Licenses

. Permits Licenses

. . Building Permits

. . Operating Permits

. Taxes Fees

. . Business Taxes


Synonym Ring

+ preferred terms

= Authority File

+ broader/narrower terms

= Taxonomy

+ related terms

= Thesaurus

Types of CVs—Summary


International standards

ISO 2788:1986 Guidelines for the Establishment and Development of Monolingual Thesauri (BS 5723: 1987)

ISO 5964:1985 Guidelines for the Establishment and Development of Multilingual Thesauri (BS 6723: 1985)

www.iso.org; www.bsi-global.com/en

CV Construction Standards


National standards

BS 8723-3:2007 Structured vocabularies for information retrieval. Guide. Vocabularies other than thesauri

BS 8723-2:2005 Structured vocabularies for information retrieval. Guide. Thesauri

www.bsi-global.com/en

CV Construction Standards


Polyhierarchies

Terms live in multiple categories, have multiple parent/child relationships

Sultanates Countries

Audhali AlbaniaBrunei BruneiOman China


Using Controlled Vocabularies


Organizes content using CV terms as category labels

Represents vocabulary hierarchy by browsing levels

Navigation Taxonomy


Level 1

Level 2

Level 3


Offers options for expanding or reducing scope of search using broader or narrower terms

Differentiates between multiple meanings of terms

Search Enhancement


CV Use: Search Results


Synonym Ring

During search, when one of the words in a synonym ring is searched for, the search engine returns items containing any of the words in the ring.

“biscuit” = “cookies”

Search Enhancement


Facets


Facets

First introduced by S. J. Ranganathan in the early 1930s.

, Personality What is it?

; Matter What is it made of?

: Energy What action is it performing?

. Space Where is it?

‘ Time When is it?


Facets

"research in the cure of tuberculosis of lungs by x-ray conducted in India in 1950"

L,45;421:6;253:f.44'N5

Components of this call number

Medicine,Lungs;Tuberculosis:Treatment;X-ray:Research.India'1950

P,P;M:E;M:E.S’T


Fundamental categories by which an object or concept may be described

Example: facets describing a ball:

size, weight, shape, color, texture, material

What are some other possible facets describing this ball?

Facets


Used for Browsing Hierarchies

Facets allow users to follow the path best matching the way they think.

Allows multiple paths to same information.

Example: epicurious.com > recipes > browse

Facets



pcworld.co.uk Laptop Search


alibris.co.uk Advanced Search


Facets

Reference

Louise Spiteri, “A Simplified Model for Facet Analysis,” in Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science v23, 1-30 (April-July 1998).

Available at: http://iainstitute.org/pg/a_simplified_model_for_facet_analysis.php


CV Maintenance


CV Maintenance

Possible Taxonomy Changes

Add/delete facet

Modify facet label

Reorganize hierarchy

Add/delete taxonomy term

Revise taxonomy term

Add/delete related term relationships


CV Maintenance

Change Control Process

Submit the changes for approval

Decide on changes to be made

SME validation?

Approve the changes

Edit the vocabulary file to make the changes


CV Maintenance

Process for Submitting New Terms

Who submits proposed terms?

How are proposed terms submitted?

Who receives/processes term submissions?

Are provisional terms as part of tagging process allowed?


Speed of Change

Facets

Hierarchy

Terms

Slowest

Fastest


Impact of Change

Facets

Hierarchy

Terms

Most

Least


CV Review

Establish regular reviews of all existing taxonomies

Frequency

Responsibility


CV Ownership

Department/business unit responsible for taxonomy maintenance

Teams/individuals responsible for maintenance


Resources

Fast, Karl, Mike Steckel and Fred Leise: series of articles on CVs and facets for BoxesandArrows.com

“Controlled Vocabularies: A Glosso-Thesaurus” available at:

http://www.boxesandarrows.com/ archives/controlled_vocabularies_a_ glossothesaurus.php


Contact Information

Fred Leise

6530 N. Greenview Ave.

Chicago, IL 60626

773.791.2849

www.ContextualAnalysis.com

www.Intuitect.com

[email protected]

Documents

Introduction to Controlled Vocabularies