Leabharlann UCD

An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath,Belfield, Baile Átha Cliath 4, Eire

UCD Library

University College Dublin,Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

Pilot Thesaurus of Irish Folklore

A Collaborative Project by the Digital Repository of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland

Catherine RyanCollections Support LibrarianCollection Services

Project Description

• Partners: Digital Repository of Ireland, National Library of Ireland

• Thesaurus Construction Guidelines– http://apps.dri.ie/motif/docs/guidelines.pdf

• Pilot Thesaurus of Irish Folklore– Demonstration of the guidelines– http://apps.dri.ie/motif/vocab/index.php

Project Description

• Digital Archiving in Ireland DRI report

• Common issues – Custom vocabularies– Adapted vocabularies– Irish content

What is a Thesaurus?

Thesauri Browsing, navigating

Synonyms, antonyms, making connections , definitions, scope

Hierarchical relationships

Equivalence Relationships,Associative Relationships, Scope Notes

Search: consistency, remove ambiguity, improve precision

Controlled Vocabulary,Restricted List of Terms

Construction Guidelines• Main elements of a

thesaurus– Terms and concepts– Relationships (USE, UF, BT,

NT, RT)– Notes, node labels, and

arrays• Facet analysis• Construction process

Construction Guidelines• Main elements of a

thesaurus– Terms and concepts– Relationships (USE, UF, BT,

NT, RT)– Notes, node labels, and

arrays• Facet analysis• Construction process

Construction Guidelines• Main elements of a

thesaurus– Terms and concepts– Relationships (USE, UF, BT,

NT, RT)– Notes, node labels, and

arrays• Facet analysis• Construction process

Construction Guidelines• Main elements of a

thesaurus– Terms and concepts– Relationships (USE, UF, BT,

NT, RT)– Notes, node labels, and

arrays• Facet analysis• Construction process

Pilot Thesaurus

Why Irish folklore?• Most potential for reuse among

specialised collections across Ireland

• Covers many aspects of Irish life

• Existing sources• Large potential for collaboration

on a national and international level

Construction Process• Term selection• Structure• Facet analysis• Relationships• Alphabetical view• Expert review• Documentation

Pilot ThesaurusTerm Selection I

Vocabulary Resources– A Handbook of Irish Folklore

by Seán Ó Suilleabháin– Bealoideas: Journal of the

Folklore of Ireland Society

Pilot Thesaurus

Pilot ThesaurusSystematic Structure

Hierarchical Display– Subjects or facets at top of

hierarchy?– Decided on fundamental

facets– Easily updated structure– Good demonstration of the

ISO 25964 hierarchy rules• Thing/kind• Whole/part• Particular instances of classes

Agents

People

Animals

Objects

Natural objects

Man-made structures

Pilot ThesaurusFacet Analysis

– ISO: “grouping of concepts of the same inherent category”

• Objects, materials, people, places, etc.– Ranganathan, 1920s and 1930s

• Personality, Matter, Energy, Space, Time– Classification Research Group, 1960s

• Thing, kind, part, property, material, process, operation, agent, patient, product, by-product, space and time

• Time• Place / Space /

Environment• Products• Activities• Processes and

Phenomena• Events

• Agents• Objects• Materials• Attributes and Properties• Parts• Genre• Abstract Entities and

Concepts

Pilot Thesaurus

Pilot Thesaurus

Pilot Thesaurus

Pilot Thesaurus

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Pilot Thesaurus

Future Development and Collaboration

Ireland– National Folklore Collection

(based in UCD)– Dúchas.ie– Project to digitise the

National Folklore Collection of Ireland.

– Folklore experts get a feel for the thesaurus to see if it works in its current format.

Future Development and Collaboration

International Collaboration• European folklorists, esp.

Scandinavian• Digital libraries, digitisation• Common approach• Linked Data?• Common patterns?

Thank you!UF Thanks!UF Cheers!UF Ta!