Vocabulary and Classification

Introduction to Vocabulary and Classification

Introduction to Vocabulary and Classification

Data value standards, which include thesauri, authority files, and classification schemes, can assist in both museum cataloguing and retrieval. They may be used to:

• help a cataloguer find precisely the right term to describe an object
• separate concepts into broad topics, or
• make automated or manual retrieval of records more efficient.

There are hundreds of data value standards available, varying in scope from the general to the very specific. Only the standards most commonly used in Canadian museums are listed here; for a more extensive list of vocabularies and classification schemes, please consult the CHIN publication, Data Content Standards: A Directory, available in bilingual print format from CHIN.

For examples of vocabulary-related projects and implementations, see Standards Research and Implementation Projects

The Networked Knowledge Organization Systems/Services (NKOS) site includes a draft Taxonomy of Knowledge Organization Systems which defines terms such as thesauri, ontologies, and semantic networks.