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Worldwide (English) Change

OCLC Terminologies Pilot

Goal

OCLC is exploring a service that provides access to multiple controlled vocabularies for libraries, museums, and archives to create consistent metadata for their collections. Selected mappings between vocabularies are provided to assist in relating terminology. The service would provide one-stop access to terminology resources and would be accessible through any web-based metadata editor.

Project Description

OCLC members and non-members will incorporate this potential service into their workflow during the pilot period - September - October, 2005. During the pilot, OCLC will conduct market research (in the form of online surveys and/or phone interviews) to solicit feedback from participants. As a result of the pilot, OCLC expects to gain insight into how to better serve user needs for a terminologies service. The technology for this pilot project is provided by OCLC Research using a new framework from Microsoft.

The pilot uses a phased approach, making different vocabularies available at different points in the pilot. The list of vocabularies includes:

Controlled Vocabulary Issuing Body MARC 21 source code
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Type Vocabulary Dublin Core Metadata Initiative dct
Guidelines On Subject Access To Individual Works Of Fiction, Drama, Etc., 2nd ed., form and genre American Library Association gsafd
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) 2005 sample National Library of Medicine mesh
Newspaper Genre List University of Washington ngl

Additional vocabularies are under consideration:

  • aat (subset only) - Art & Architecture Thesaurus (J. Paul Getty Trust)
  • gmgpc - Thesaurus of Graphic Materials, TGM I (Library of Congress)
  • lctgm - Thesaurus of Graphic Materials, TGM II (Library of Congress)
  • migfg - Moving Image Genre-form Guide (Library of Congress)
  • radfg - Radio Form / Genre Terms Guide (Library of Congress)
  • rvm - Répertoire de vedettes-matière (Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval)
  • tgn (subset only) - Thesaurus of Geographic Names (J. Paul Getty Trust)
  • ULAN (subset only) - Union List of Artists' Names (J. Paul Getty Trust)

The tools needed for participation include the following:

  • Microsoft Office 2003
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
  • Metadata editors (such as OCLC Connexion, CONTENTdm, DCdot)

Resources

Terms & Conditions of Use

Work Instructions - How to get started and a brief tutorial

Other Links

Contact

Your comments are needed. Please let us know if you have problems or questions about the Terminologies pilot or the Office of Research Terminologies Service.

Susan Westberg
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
Digital Collection Services
Toll-free phone: 800-848-5878 (USA and Canada only)
Direct phone: 614-761-5079
Email: westbers@oclc.org