Page 123 - DLIS405_INFORMATION_STORAGE_AND_RETRIEVAL

Information Storage and Retrieval

Notes writing and knowledge management, where effort is expended to use the same word throughout a
document or organization instead of slightly different ones to refer to the same thing.
Web searching could be dramatically improved by the development of a controlled vocabulary for
describing Web pages; the use of such a vocabulary could culminate in a Semantic Web, in which
the content of Web pages is described using a machine-readable metadata scheme. One of the first
proposals for such a scheme is the Dublin Core Initiative. An example of a controlled vocabulary
which is usable for indexing web pages is PSH.
It is unlikely that a single metadata scheme will ever succeed in describing the content of the entire
Web. To create a Semantic Web, it may be necessary to draw from two or more metadata systems to
describe a Web page’s contents.

The eXchangeable Faceted Metadata Language (XFML) is designed to enable
controlled vocabulary creators to publish and share metadata systems. XFML is
designed on faceted classification principles.

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
6. ...... is the name given to a number of different team sports.
(a) Cricket (b) Football
(c) Hockey (d) None of these.
7. Controlled vocabularies also typically handle the problem of ...... .
(a) Synonyms (b) Polysemes
(c) Homographs (d) None of these
8. In the ......, government agencies began to develop controlled vocabularies.
(a) 1940 (b) 1960
(c) 1950 (d) None of these.

12.5 Summary

• Controlled vocabularies, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, are an essential
component of bibliography, the study and classification of books.
• In the 1960s, an online bibliographic database industry developed based on dialup X.25 net-
working.
• Controlled vocabularies are also quickly out-dated and in fast developing fields of knowl-
edge, the authorized terms available might not be available if they are not updated regularly.
• Vocabulary control (alias authority control) in creating representations, in syndetic structure,
and in query development.
• Subject headings also tend to use more pre-coordination of terms such that the designer of the
controlled vocabulary will combine various concepts together to form one authorized subject
heading.
• Controlled vocabularies also typically handle the problem of homographs, with qualifiers.

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