Depository Services Program

• Introduction
• Thesaurus Display
• Display Elements
• Using the Thesaurus Relational Structure to Find Descriptors

Introduction

This thesaurus was originally developed by the DSP to supply descriptors for the GOC Publications Database is now derived from the Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus.

A thesaurus is a controlled vocabulary arranged in a known order (not necessarily alphabetic) in which equivalence (USE; USE FOR), homographic (variant spellings), hierarchical (Broader Term; Narrower Term) and associative (Related Term) relationships among terms are clearly displayed and identified by standardized relationship indicators. A thesaurus also contains synonyms, or "lead-in" terms that may be used as the conceptual point of entry by searchers or indexers, instead of the designated indexing terms. As such, they "lead" users to the "preferred" term that is consistently used in indexing information resources that contain the subject or concept that the user is looking for.

Thesaurus Display

Subject Descriptors

Subject descriptors (also known "preferred" terms) are displayed so as to make their associative, equivalence, and hierarchical relationships obvious at a glance. Subject descriptors are terms that are authorized for use in indexing and may be used for searching indexed information resources. In the alphabetical display of subject terms, descriptors appear in bold face.

Lead-in Terms

Lead-in terms (also known as "non-preferred" terms) are not used in indexing. They are synonyms or alternate forms of subject descriptors that point to or "lead-in" to a single "preferred" descriptor. In the alphabetical display of subject terms, lead-in terms appear in regular typeface and in italics. Lead-in terms are followed by a reference to the authorized descriptor for the concept.

Form of Terms

In this thesaurus and by convention, English descriptors representing concrete objects or entities (things can be counted) normally appear in the plural form (e.g., "Colleges", "Persons with disabilities"). Descriptors representing abstract concepts or collections of things (i.e., abstract or collective nouns) appear in the singular form (e.g., "Air quality", "Energy"). In contrast, and again by linguistic convention, terms in the French thesaurus generally appear in the singular form. All terms appear in direct rather than inverted order as they would in natural speech (e.g., "Elementary education", not "Education, elementary")

Form of Display

The following example shows the form of display of an individual preferred term record.

Libraries

French:

Bibliothèque

Used For:

Documentation services
Library collections

Broader Term:

Cultural institutions

Narrower Term:

Digital libraries

Government libraries

National libraries

Public libraries

Special libraries

Related Term:

Bibliographic data interchange

Document classification

Interlibrary loans

Display Elements

Libraries

The subject descriptor of record ("Libraries")

French

The French equivalent appears in regular typeface immediately below the descriptor heading. In the French thesaurus (TSB), the French descriptor is shown with its own set of relations to other terms in that thesaurus.

Used for:

Under the category "Used for" are terms that are synonymous with the authorized indexing term. Synonyms are included in the thesaurus to lead indexers to the authorized indexing term; hence, they are known as "lead-in" terms. Do not select "Used for" terms as indexing terms; use only the authorized indexing terms (also known as "preferred terms").

Lead-in term records are displayed as follows:

Documentation services

Subject Classification:

Information and Communications

Use:

Libraries

Note the instruction to use "Libraries" instead of "Documentation services"

Broader Terms:

Broader terms are subject descriptors that are more general than the descriptor of record. In this example, "Cultural institutions" are broader than "Libraries". Generally, broader and narrower terms are in a relationship of either a "genus / species" or "whole / part" relationship to the descriptor of record

Narrower Terms:

Narrower terms are more restricted in meaning than the descriptor of record.

Related Terms:

Related terms have a semantic, contextual or usage association with the descriptor of record that is exclusive of a "genus / species" or "whole / part" relationship.

Using the Thesaurus Relational Structure to Find Descriptors

Browse through the alphabetical display of "lead-in" terms (labelled USE: in the full term display) and indexing terms. Then consult Broader terms (BT:), Narrower terms (NT), and Related terms (RT) attached to each descriptor (indexing term) that appear to exactly or closely represent the concept to be represented in indexing or metadata. These relationships define the meaning of a descriptor, and they suggest other index terms that may be relevant. In addition, the full record for indexing terms (descriptors) may include Scope notes (SN:) that further elucidate or restrict the meaning of the term for indexing purposes.