Thesauri, interoperability and the role of ISO 25964 - PowerPoint Presentation

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Thesauri, interoperability and the role of ISO 25964

Stella G Dextre ClarkeProject Leader, ISO NP 25964Chair, ISKO UKstella @lukehouse.org

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SummaryBrief thesaurus chronology

What role does the thesaurus have now?The demand for interoperabilityHighlights from ISO 25964

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Thesauri – a brief chronology

Once upon a time, thesauri were at the cutting edge of Information Retrieval (IR) technologyHey-day in 1960s and 1970s; after mid-1980s popularity declinedISO 2788 and ISO 5964 (for monolingual and multilingual thesauri respectively) came out 1974 - 1986.Internet/intranets in 1990s brought resurgence and diversification (into other forms of controlled vocabulary, such as “taxonomies”)TREC (1992 onwards) has shown dominance of statistical methods in IR. But stats alone are not enough!At the turn of the century, thesauri back in fashion and work began on refurbishing the British and International standardsSemantic Web and SKOS developments provide more incentiveToday, even Google employs some “taxonomists”.

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Slide unearthed from TR’01(2001): The thesaurus coming back into fashion!Slide5

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The role of controlled vocabularies today

Needed where full text is not available, e.g. image libraries and audio resourcesInvaluable for crossing language barriersEspecially useful in-house, where the page rank algorithms are less effectiveEssential to access vast databases and catalogues of bibliographic data from decades pastProvide added value in combination with other methods, often hidden behind the scenesIn all these contexts, interoperability is key.

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Introducing

ISO 25964ISO 25964: Thesauri and interoperability with other vocabularies Part 1: Thesauri for information retrieval

Part 2: Interoperability with other vocabularies

It updates ISO 2788 and ISO 5964

based on BS 8723, with much reworking

Part 1,

published in August 2011

, covers monolingual and multilingual thesauri

Part 2, to be

published in

January 2013

,

covers mapping between thesauri and other types of vocabulary

information retrieval seen as main application, including indexing as well as searching9Slide10

What does “interoperability”

mean?Definition: ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged.In the case of thesauri and other KOS, broadly speaking interoperability applies at more than one level:presenting data in a standard way to enable import and use in other systems

(ISO 25964 Part 1)

providing mappings between the terms/concepts of one KOS and those of another

(ISO 25964 Part 2)

plus any other type of exchange between one KOS and another

(ISO 25964 Part 2

)

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Linked Data Cloud in 2011

- Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch see http://lod-cloud.net/Slide12

A simplified view of interoperability

My thesaurusSlide13

Interoperability between vocabularies (see ISO 25964-2)

My thesaurus

Your thesaurus

GEMET

AGROVOC

LCSH

Dewey

WordnetSlide14

Interoperability between applications (see ISO 25964-1)

Vocabulary management software

indexing/tagging software

search/browsing softwareSlide15

Content of ISO 25964-1, supporting interoperability between applications

thesaurus content and construction, mono- or multi-lingual (i.e. a complete update of ISO 2788 and ISO 5964)guidance on applying facet analysis to thesauri

guidance on managing thesaurus development and maintenance

functional requirements for software to manage thesauri

a data model and derived XML schema

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Models

for mappingGuidelines for mappingRecommendations on mapping typesHow to handle pre-coordination

Mapping to vocabularies other than thesauri:

classification schemes

file

plans

(Classification

schemes used for records

management)

taxonomies

subject

heading

schemes

ontologiesterminologiesname authority listssynonym rings Brief guidance on handling mappings dataContent of ISO 25964-2, supporting interoperability between vocabularies17Slide18

Recommended “Models for mapping

” EF

G

H

A

B

C

D

P

Q

R

SSlide19

What does “mapping” mean?

Definition: process of establishing relationships between the concepts of one vocabulary and those of anotherRecommended types of mapping are based on the standard internal relationship types, basically: equivalence, hierarchical and associativeGreater differentiation of mapping types is allowed, but is optional, to avoid complexity in simple applicationsSlide20

Full range of ISO 25964-2 mapping types

Basic mapping types:EquivalenceSimpleCompoundIntersecting compound equivalenceCumulative compound equivalenceHierarchical

Broader

Narrower

Associative

Simple equivalence can be marked as “Exact” or “Inexact”Slide21

Full range of ISO 25964-2 mapping types with examples

Basic mapping types:EquivalenceSimple: Laptop computers EQ Notebook computersCompoundIntersecting compound equivalence:

Women executives EQ Women + Executives

Cumulative compound equivalence:

Inland waterways EQ Rivers | Canals

Hierarchical

Broader:

Streets BM Roads

Narrower:

Roads NM Streets

Associative:

e-Learning RM Distance educationExact equivalence: Aubergines =EQ Egg-plantsInexact equivalence: Horticulture ~EQ GardeningSlide22

The joys of pre-coordination

Examples:599.742.71(084.12) photographs of lions (from UDC)Automobiles--Air conditioning--Maintenance and repair (from LCSH)Occurs characteristically in subject heading schemes, classification schemes, taxonomies and file plansMapping obliges use of the more complicated mapping types, especially compound equivalence

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Vocabularies other than thesauri

ISO 25964 is a standard for thesauri; it does not attempt to standardize other types of KOS. It guides only on interoperability between thesauri and other types of KOS.The clause on each KOS type presents:Key characteristics of the KOS (non-normative)Semantic components/relationships (non-normative)Recommendations for interoperability between the KOS and a thesaurus, especially mapping (normative)

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Vocabularies other than thesauri

The following are dealt with in ISO 25964:classification schemesfile plans (classification schemes used for records management)taxonomies subject heading schemes

name authority lists

synonym rings

terminologies

ontologiesSlide25

General prospects for mapping

- thesauri

mapping relatively straightforward

- classification schemes

- file plans

- taxonomies

- subject heading schemes

concept mapping useful in IR, pre-coordination common

- name authority lists

mapping usually straightforward but common concepts few

- synonym rings

- terminologies

- ontologies

concept mapping rarely useful; complementary uses are a more likely prospectSlide26

Ontologies are special…

Definition of ontology excludes “lightweight” examples such as thesauri and classification schemesThe Gruber/Studer definition is adopted, and interpreted broadly enough to admit OWL-based examples such as ORE and FOAF.Mapping between ontologies and thesauri is not recommended.Interoperability recommendations focus on use cases such as reengineering a thesaurus as an ontology, and complementary use of thesaurus with ontology.

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Simple ontology illustration(

credit: Jutta Lindenthal; see http://www.jlindenthal.de/IID/2012/Kurs_2012.htm )

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Structural comparison

The illustration is used in ISO 25964 to draw out key similarities and differences between ontologies and thesauri.The aim is to encourage emerging applications in which thesauri and ontologies can usefully interoperate.

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Interoperability at the level of standards

SKOS

ISO25964

OWL

RDF

XML

SRU

Z39.19

MARC 21

REST

HTTP

BS 8723

ZThes

SPARQL

JSON

ISO2709

Z39.50Slide30

Dextre Clarke and Zeng, 2012. http://www.niso.org/publications/isq/2012/v24no1/clarke/

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The thesaurus coming back into fashion…Slide32

…although often hidden behind the scenesSlide33

And interoperability makes new tricks easier…Slide34

Want a copy of

the standards?Download Part 1 from ISO at http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=53657Part 2 will be in the ISO catalogue next yearOrder from your national standards body (e.g. BSI, DIN, ANSI, AFNOR)Some public/academic reference libraries stock themISO standards are not cheap to purchase

However, the

data model

and

XML schema

for exchange of thesaurus data are available online

without charge or password control

. Go to

http://www.niso.org/schemas/iso25964

/

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Some extra slides with more detail

APPENDIX35Slide36

Who is involved in developing the standard?

A Working Group (WG8), under the ISO subcommittee known as ISO TC46/SC9, has drafted the standard.

WG8 has members from 15 countries.

The WG8 Secretariat is provided by NISO in the USA

Currently active members

of WG8

include:

Johan De Smedt

Marianne Lykke

Stella Dextre Clarke (Leader)

Esther Scheven

Michèle Hudon

Douglas Tudhope

Daniel KlessLeonard WillJutta LindenthalMarcia Lei Zeng36Slide37

Intersecting versus cumulative equivalenceSlide38

Mapping example from a pre-coordinated concept: inland waterway transport

Inland waterway transport EQ transport + (rivers | canals)

The Rialto Bridge, Venice

Michele

Marieschi

© Bridgeman Education