KM vocabularies

Annotated Links to Forest-Related Ontology/Keyword/Thesaurus Systems

Note: This list was first compiled in 2008 by Sean Gordon to investigate ways to improve the accessibility of documents published and catalogued by the US Forest Service PNW Research Station.

TreeSearch

• The catalog of publications produced by the US Forest Service Research Branch
• http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/
• uses keywords chosen by authors
• Northern Research Station has hyperlinked keywords appearing on abstract pages, so they can initiate a search (http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/search.asp)

National Forest Service Library

• contact: Carol Ayer
• She says, "We currently use the CAB Thesaurus for indexing on our online system and are planning to convert to the NAL Thesaurus when we can find the time to do so."
• Monthly surf alerts categories
  • http://fsweb.wo.fs.fed.us/library/alerts/alertcategorycodes.htm
  • what vocabulary are these based on?
• Library catalog search
  • http://fsinfo.fs.fed.us/cgi-bin/gw/chameleon
  • keyword search is uncontrolled search of entries
  • browse search uses Library of Congress Subject Headings
    • a browse search on 'forest' brings up an unspecified number (but definitely in the 100s) of terms, 10 at a time; here is the first screen:

You searched FSINFO - Subject: forest

Hit Count	Scan Term
3	FOREST
49	Forest administration.
1	Forest Ag program.
1	Forest age.
3	Forest Air Officer (FAO).
11	Forest Amenity Studies.
1	Forest Amenity Studies -- -- Iowa.
2	Forest and agricultural sector optimization model (FASOM).
2	Forest and forestry -- -- Malaysia.
1	Forest and forestry -- -- Philippine Islands.

USDA National Agricultural Library

• http://agclass.nal.usda.gov/agt/agt.shtml
• Total Terms - 69,797, Lead-in Terms - 27,046 Preferred Terms - 42.751 Subject Categories - 17 Scope Notes - 558 Definitions - 2,489
• 2008 edition expanded terminology associated with fuels, chocolate manufacture, bodies of water and the US National Forest System.
• downloadable in a number of formats

IUFRO SilvaVoc

• contact: Renate Prueller
• multilingual forest terminology: http://www.iufro.org/science/special/silvavoc/
• Library catalog search: http://www.iufro.org/publications/online-library/
• Can get list of terms matching your keyword by pressing Index button

IUFRO Global Forest Decimal Classification Unit

• http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-6/60000/60300/60303
• They've published their keyword set but it's not available on line - they sell it for 35 euros
• GFDC fits within the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC), a multilingual classification scheme for all fields of knowledge (http://www.udcc.org/about.htm).
• UDC contains 66,000 numbers (2005)
• Although it is not designed with end-users in mind, it is an excellent, comprehensive reference tool and is available under licence terms to classifiers, librarians and other users. Ideally, in bibliographic databases or OPACs, the MRF should be integrated into local cataloguing or indexing systems which provide a familiar and customized interface.

FAO AgroVoc

• http://www.fao.org/agrovoc
• AGROVOC is a multilingual, structured and controlled vocabulary designed to cover the terminology of all subject fields in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and related domains (e.g. environment).
• AGROVOC contains more than 28,000 descriptors and more than 10900 non-descriptors (synonyms). For indexing purposes, it is important that only descriptor terms are used.
• AGROVOC is free of charge for educational or other strictly non-commercial purposes. Downloading is authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged.
• AGROVOC is accessible via web services, which can be called from any client application.

CAB Thesaurus

• http://www.cabi.org/DatabaseSearchTools.asp?PID=277
• over 48,000 descriptive terms
• Key Strengths:, Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Soil science, Entomology, Mycology, Parasitology, Veterinary medicine, Nutrition, Rural studies
• The Electronic CAB Thesaurus is currently available in a tagged field format suitable for reading into database management and similar systems. An XML format will be available shortly.
• It is available free-of-charge for not-for-profit use in the public domain, such as by academic and research institutions.

NBII Biocomplexity Thesaurus

• http://thesaurus.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt
• developed by CSA by integrating the following
  • the CSA Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Thesaurus
  • the CSA Life Sciences Thesaurus
  • the CSA Pollution Thesaurus
  • the CSA Sociological Thesaurus
  • the CERES/NBII Thesaurus
  • the CSA Ecotourism Thesaurus
• now adding fire-related terms
• not available in database form (it's the property of CSA) but is available as a web service

NASA Global Change Master Directory

• http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/
• GCMD includes multiple disciplines including forestry.

GEMET (GEneral Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus)

• http://www.eionet.europa.eu/GEMET
• developed by the European Topic Centre on Catalogue of Data Sources under contract to the European Environment Agency, and is currently published and managed by the European Environment Information and Observation Network.
• GEMET is a compilation of several multilingual vocabularies, and has been designed as a general thesaurus, aiming to define a core general terminology for the environment. The current version is available in 22 languages, and contains over 6,000 descriptors.
• GEMET is available to public in several formats. It can be browsed and searched on-line, accessed through Web services, or downloaded as HTML or SKOS files.

EcoInformatics Initiative (USEPA - European Environment Agency)

• http://www.eea.europa.eu/cooperations/eco-informatics
• Thesaurus and terminology - Ecoterm area
• eXtended Metadata Registry (XMDR) project & semantic web efforts
• have powerpoints from latest meeting available under "Meeting Library"

Global Forest Information Service (GFIS)

• contact: Toral Patel at USGS/NBII
• general search: http://www.gfis.net/gfis/home.faces
• FAO is the lead on metadata standards, working with IUFRO, WAICENT, CABI
• Latest notes talk about getting the IUFRO Global Forest Decimal Classification Unit involved and contain a proposal for a multilingual forest thesaurus

Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Forests, Glossary of Forestry Terms

• http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/

Integrated Taxonomic Information System

• http://itis.usda.gov
• Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

USGS Geographic Name Information System

• http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/
• Contains information about almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States

PNW Information Management Studies

• Four reports authored by Eric Landis (consultant) to help PNW Station improve its information management. Here are some annotations related to keywording:

1. Current situation: information content, structure and accessibility (2/2002 PDF 2.2MB)
   • (you'll have to View-Rotate it to get it right side up)
2. User needs assessment (5/2002 PDF 3MB)
   • a number of users requested the ability to browse by keywords (aka index)
   • thesaurus could help less technical users find what they need (help them navigate the specialized terminology)
   • a few requested some type of research registry to find currently active projects
3. Study and recommendations for improving data and information management (1/2003 DOC 577k)
   • HJ Andrews is using a modified Global Change Master Directory (from NASA) term list (http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/).
   • Some Stations are using the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International’s (CABI) forestry thesaurus (http://www.cabi.org)
4. The evaluation and use of controlled vocabularies at the PNW Research Station (1/2004 DOC 222k)
   • outlines 5 possible options for obtaining/developing a controlled vocabulary (adopting and possibly modifying an existing one are top choices)
   • Appendix 7 lists notable controlled vocabularies (integrated into list below)
   • not much discussion of specific uses for PNW, just general cataloguing of documents

Related wiki pages

The Need for Ontologies in Natural Resource Research and Management