Thesaurus Construction
Website and intranet developers realise the value of controlled searching for finding material on their sites. Rather than using a wide range of keywords, many web and intranet sites are structuring a list of terms that are ‘mapped’ or ‘linked’ to the information, so that users can find details they need quickly and easily. These lists of terms, or controlled vocabularies, are know as thesauri.
A thesaurus identifies relevant terminology for a subject area or topic, creates a structure for the vocabulary, provides a hierarchical display of Broader and Narrower terms within the subject field, indicate relationships between terms, and maps non-preferred synonyms to the preferred thesaurus term. A thesaurus that is used in conjunction with a search engine provides more precise results than simple keyword searches. Indexers are trained to develop and use these controlled vocabularies for specific subject areas, which will aid in searching. Indexers often work with website or database developers to incorporate a structured, controlled vocabulary into their work.
Indexers can also provide additional services involving thesauri. All database and web indexers can use a thesaurus to index online information databases or intranet sites, or to supply metadata for websites. Some indexers are proficient at maintaining or updating existing thesauri. More experienced indexers can evaluate the effectiveness of a thesaurus and ensure it continues to meet an organisation’s changing information needs.
For further information see Thesaurus resourses and resources on indexing websites.
