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Support Resources: Controlled Vocabularies

Replaced by Developing and managing an information architecture - Whole of Victorian Government ICT Guideline issued 29 November 2010.

Supporting: Information Architecture/Classification standard (WEB/STD/08)

Version: 2.0

Release Date: 30 November 2007

Controlled Vocabularies

Controlled vocabularies - also known as controlled languages - are lists of standardised terminology that can be used for indexing and retrieval of information.

Controlled vocabularies can also support the preparation of web content that is designed to promote keyword density. They are used to tag documents and then to find content through navigation or search. A website taxonomy is a controlled vocabulary.

Use of a controlled vocabulary increases consistency in metadata cataloguing and keyword selection and can help match users’ natural language with preferred terms.

There are different kinds of controlled vocabularies and they include (1):

Synonym rings - A synonym ring extends controlled vocabulary term lists by connecting different words that basically are equivalent for the purpose of retrieval. Search systems can be controlled to use or not to use synonym rings. Synonyms can include:

Two words with the exact or very similar meanings
Acronyms: ABC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation;
Variant spellings: cancelled, canceled; honor, honour
Scientific terms versus popular use terms: Mad Cow Disease - bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

Authority file - An authority file is similar to the synonym ring, with the addition of one type of term relationship. Instead of all of the terms being equal, one term is identified as the preferred term and the others are considered variant terms.
Taxonomy A taxonomy is the classification of an information domain arranging the terms in the controlled vocabulary into a hierarchy. It allows related terms to be grouped together and categorized in ways that make it easier to find the correct term to use whether for searching, navigation or to describe an object.
Thesaurus - The controlled vocabulary of an indexing language or encoding scheme, eg. Keyword AAA or Thesaurus of Australian Government Subjects (TAGS). In a thesaurus, where multiple words in the vocabulary have similar meanings, one central term is recommended for use to replace many semantic variants of that term.
Faceted Classification - Faceted controlled vocabularies are mutually exclusive bins that capture an essential characteristic that has a well-defined domain. For example, facets for restaurants might be Australian state, restaurant type and cost:
Synonym Equivalence List

Controlled language lists are also controlled vocabularies. They prescribe a set of terms that limit the selection and description of a term or item and are often used in the creation of metadata content. AGLS metadata have a number of controlled lists to manage the description of key metadata fields.