This introductory workshop is intended for anyone concerned with subject access
to digital libraries. It provides a bridge by presenting methods of subject
access as treated in an information studies program for those coming to digital
libraries from other fields.
Objectives: Participants should
- appreciate the complexity of subject access and understand the problems
that a thesaurus can help solve.
- understand the principles of thesaurus structure.
- be able to apply thesaurus structure to solving subject access problems.
- be able to identify and evaluate thesauri suitable for a specific
situation defined by a user community and by the collection of a digital
library.
Content
The tutorial will elucidate through examples the conceptual and
vocabulary problems users face when searching digital libraries. It will show
how a well-structured thesaurus can be used as the knowledge base for an
interface that can assist users with search topic clarification and with finding
good search terms. It will touch on cross-database and cross-language searching
as natural extensions of these functions. It will cover the thesaurus structure
needed to support these functions: Concept- term relationships for vocabulary
control and synonym expansion, conceptual structure for topic clarification and
hierarchic query term expansion. Discussion of a few sample thesauri will
illustrate these principles.
Materials
- Detailed outline with examples (all slides) and a checklist of thesaurus
evaluation criteria
- Sample pages from selected thesauri
- A bibliography of thesauri, especially thesauri available electronically
(e.g., on the Web)
Outline
- Problems to be solved: User orientation in a concept space and vocabulary
confusion
- Thesaurus functions
- Conceptual map and standardized language for a field
- Vocabulary control for indexing and searching, including free- text
searching, cross-database searching, and cross-language searching
- User-centered indexing
- Knowledge base for user interface:
- Assistance with search topic clarification through browsing
well-structured hierarchies and guided facet analysis
- Query term mapping and query term expansion (synonyms and hierarchic
inclusion)
- Thesaurus structure
- Concept-term relationships
- Conceptual structure: Semantic analysis and facets. Hierarchy
- Examples of classifications and thesauri
- Dewey Decimal Classification
- Medical Subject Headings and Unified Medical Language System
- WordNet
- CYC Ontology
- Alcohol and Other Drug Thesaurus
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