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Environmental Terminology System and Services (ETSS)

Environmental Terminology System and Services (ETSS). June 2007. EPA’s System of Registries. A series of registries that help manage key business objects Most are authority files: Chemicals and substances Facilities XML Schema/Tags

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Environmental Terminology System and Services (ETSS)

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  1. Environmental Terminology System and Services (ETSS) June 2007

  2. EPA’s System of Registries • A series of registries that help manage key business objects • Most are authority files: • Chemicals and substances • Facilities • XML Schema/Tags • Newly added Environmental Terminology System and Services (ETSS) will address topical terminology

  3. Why Terminology? • So that we know what we mean • Key business terms and acronyms • So we can find stuff • Indexing, cataloging, keyword management • Others are counting on us • Emergency response • Other Federal Gov’t • International efforts Gary Larson – The Far Side

  4. EPA’s History of Terminology • EPA Terminology Reference System (www.epa.gov/trs) • Searchable repository • Over 250 distinct vocabularies; over 11,000 terms • Environmental regulations and laws • EPA Program glossaries and term lists • GEneral Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET) • Significant limitations • Limited search capability • Lacks web services • Lacks editing functionality • Doesn’t support multilingual capability • Insufficient for concept management

  5. What Is the ETSS? • Search & Discovery Portal – a tool to find, use, and download terminology • Terminology Management – a repository of important terms with user interfaces for creation, storage, maintenance, harmonization, and distribution of various types of terminology • Automated Services – Web interfaces and services to allow exchanges of terminologies with Agency and partner systems • Collaborative Stewardship – a framework for the development of vocabulary-specific workflows and processes

  6. Key ETSS Customers • Human Customers • EPA vocabulary developers like the Web Taxonomy Project • Policy makers defining terms in regulations • System developers selecting XML tags and defining data elements • Program managers and researchers seeking to develop and use terms and glossaries • Non-EPA vocabulary developers interested in environmental terms • Anyone needing to understand environmental terminology • Stakeholders, partners and the public • System Customers • Search engines – to expand searches or provide the basis for taxonomies or folders • Enterprise content management – source of value domains and controlled vocabularies • Other systems that use pick lists or taxonomies

  7. Login for EPA and Partners

  8. ETSS High-Level Data Model Vocabulary(Relationship Definitions, Rules, Versions, Contact Information for Stewards & Owners) Relationship Links (Narrower Than, Broader Than, Equivalent, and EPA-Custom Relationships to be Defined) Terms Standard Attributes (Definitions, Source, Language) EPA Custom Attributes (Notes fields, etc.)

  9. Current Status Where We’re At • Dow Jones’ Synaptica KMS software selected • Editorial system in production • Over 250 vocabularies and 11,000 terms migrated • New Web Taxonomy created and maintained • Supporting development of EPA Quality Glossary • Training sessions held for editors Next Steps • Develop public end-user interface • Establish governance and workflow • Integrate with SOR and other systems • Develop strategy for moving toward a concept-based system

  10. Knowledge Organization Continuum

  11. What is Concept Management? • Organizing terms around core concepts in a business, domain or enterprise • Goals:* • Articulate clear and concise meanings of business domain concepts • Achieve a shared understanding of the concepts among relevant stakeholders, and • Guard the stability of a concept’s meaning during system development • Major activities:* • Scoping the environment of discourse • Concept specification, integration and enforcement *Bleeker, et al “The Role of Concept Management in System Development – A Practical and Theoretical Perspective” 2003. http://www.cs.ru.nl/Research/reports/full/NIII-R0330.pdf

  12. Concept Management and the Semantic Web The Semantic Web is an extension of the current web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. It is all about: • Managing concepts • More explicit meaning • Structure and standards • Tools and infrastructure

  13. Where do we want to go? • ETSS supports the ability to connect multiple vocabularies: • Put an umbrella concept system over all the vocabularies to which the individual terms can be linked • Increase the links between terms, including across vocabularies • Create richer relationships between terms • Continue to add definitions • Develop tools for comparing terms and definitions

  14. For More Information Contact either: Linda Spencer EPA Office of Information Collection spencer.linda@epa.gov (202) 566-1651 Michael Pendleton EPA Office of Information Collection pendleton.michael@epa.gov (202) 566-1658 “Commentary.” Government Computer News – August 14, 2006

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