Introduction to Controlled Vocabularies

1. Introduction toControlled Vocabularies • Presented by Fred Leise • ContextualAnalysis, LLC • The Round Table Conference • Society of Indexers • Sunday, July 13, 2008

2. 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

3. About Fred Leise • Recent Clients • Scripps Newspapers • Disney Studios • Harpo, Inc. (Oprah.com) • Dow Corning • Abbott Laboratories

4. About Fred Leise • Freelance back-of-book indexer since 1995 • Scholarly texts in the humanities • President, American Society for Indexing

5. Goals for This Presentation • Introduce basic concepts and terminology about controlled vocabularies • (Feel free to ask questions or contribute examples at any time)

6. Workshop Overview • Indexes vs. Controlled Vocabularies (CVs) • An Introduction to CVs • Using CVs • Facets • CV Development Methodology Overview • CV Governance and Maintenance

7. Terminology Problem • Taxonomy • generally, any kind of controlled vocabulary • also a specific type of controlled vocabulary

8. Indexes vs. CVs

9. Indexes vs. CVs • Similarities • Concept identification • Term selection

10. Indexes vs. CVs • Differences

11. About Controlled Vocabularies

12. What areControlled Vocabularies? • H. Wellisch • A list of terms that may be used for indexing, produced by the operation of vocabulary control.

13. 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

14. What areControlled Vocabularies? • F. Leise: • 3. Enable users to find the information they need by translating their language into the language of the information store.

15. Equivalence (Synonyms) • Country = Nation • Chief of State = Prime Minister • Brunei = Sultanate of Brunei = Negara Brunei Darussalam = سلطنة بروناي = برني دارالسلام

16. Hierarchical Relationships • Whole/Part • Automobile • Air bags • Engine • Seats • Steering • Wheels

17. Hierarchical Relationships • Instances • Buildings • Great Pyramid of Giza • Madison Square Garden • Petronas Towers • Sears Tower • Taipei 101

18. Associative Relationship • 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

19. Types of CVs • 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

20. Types of CVs • Authority File • Has all the features of a synonym ring, plus preferredterms (approved terms/keywords) for tagging content.

21. Authority File: Alphabetical • community 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

22. Authority File: Spreadsheet

23. Types of CVs • Taxonomy • Also called hierarchy • All features of authority files, plus: • Broader terms (BT) • Narrower terms (NT)

24. 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.

25. Taxonomy Example (Indented) • total compensation. compensation. . base salary [salary]. . deferred payments [deferred compensation]. . variable pay. benefits. . 401(k) plan. . health benefits. . . dental plan. . . disability insurance

26. Taxonomy Example (Alpha List) • 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

27. Types of CVs • Thesaurus (pl. thesauri) • All the features of taxonomies, plus the associative relationship of related terms (RT)

28. Thesaurus: Alphabetical • 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

29. Thesaurus: Indented

30. Types of CVs—Summary • Synonym Ring • + preferred terms • = Authority File • + broader/narrower terms • = Taxonomy • + related terms • = Thesaurus

31. CV Construction Standards • 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

32. 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

33. Polyhierarchies • Terms live in multiple categories, have multiple parent/child relationships • SultanatesCountries • Audhali Albania • Brunei Brunei • Oman China

34. Using Controlled Vocabularies

35. Navigation Taxonomy • Organizes content using CV terms as category labels • Represents vocabulary hierarchy by browsing levels

36. Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

37. Search Enhancement • Offers options for expanding or reducing scope of search using broader or narrower terms • Differentiates between multiple meanings of terms

38. CV Use: Search Results

39. Search Enhancement • 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”

40. Facets

41. 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?

42. 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

43. Facets • 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?

44. 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

46. pcworld.co.uk Laptop Search

47. alibris.co.uk Advanced Search

48. 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

49. CV Maintenance

50. 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