 |
 |
A small Working Group has been formed, under the auspices of BSI's committee IDT/2/2, to undertake revision of the two standards BS 5723 and BS 6723, which set out guidelines for the development of monolingual and multilingual thesauri respectively. Broadly, the aim is to update the standards to reflect needs at the start of the 21st century. Since the two are interlinked, it will be important to consider them jointly and bring them together. The overall scope may be extended to reflect today's concern with alternative forms of controlled vocabulary, although these are likely to be described in less detail than thesauri. Sections may be added dealing with electronic displays and functions, tagging and interchange formats; also the use of thesaurus management software. These are challenging tasks, especially in today's fast moving environment. But the demand for interoperability compels us to pursue standardisation. Therefore input is invited from users and potential users of the standards. The British Standards are identical to the corresponding International Standards ISO 2788 and ISO 5964. It is hoped that eventually our work in the UK may form the basis of a revised international standard. Similarly, there will be input to and collaboration with an IFLA group working on multilingual thesaurus guidelines. Comments on any aspect of the work should be submitted by 15 November 2001. Suggestions may address new dimensions that could usefully and feasibly be added to the revised work, or aspects of the existing standard which it will be important to retain. Please send them to any one of the following three WG members: Stella Dextre Clarke ([log in to unmask]); Alan Gilchrist ([log in to unmask]); Leonard Will ([log in to unmask]). -- Willpower Information (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E Will) Information Management Consultants Tel: +44 (0)20 8372 0092 27 Calshot Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 7BQ, UK. Fax: +44 (0)20 8372 0094 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] ---------------- <URL:http://www.willpowerinfo.co.uk/> -----------------