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With apologies for any cross postings. The Subject in Question: Developing the UK Archival Thesaurus We would like to announce the availability of the website for the UK Archival Thesaurus (UKAT) project (http://www.ukat.org.uk/). The website provides: 1. Facilities to browse and search the Thesaurus (http://www.ukat.org.uk/thesaurus/). UKAT is being made available as it is developed, so we would be grateful for your comments or contributions (see below for URLs). 2. Ability to register as a contributor, and to submit terms and relationships which you think should be included in UKAT. Contributions are welcome from anyone with an interest in archives, including record offices, individual archivists and archive users. You can register as a contributor using the on-line registration form (http://www.ukat.org.uk/contribute/register.php). Once your registration has been confirmed, you'll be able to login to submit terms and relationships (http://www.ukat.org.uk/contribute/secure/). If you have a large number of terms which you'd like to contribute (e.g. an in-house thesaurus used by your institution), please contact UKAT ([log in to unmask]), as it may be more convenient to submit them to us by other means. 3. Further information about the project (see http://www.ukat.org.uk/about/). 4. A feedback form to provide us with comments about the Thesaurus and the website (http://www.ukat.org.uk/contact/). BACKGROUND: The UKAT project is working to create a subject thesaurus for use by the archive sector in the UK. The project has been supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with additional funding and support from the University of London Computer Centre and the National Archives. The project will run until the end of June 2004. The Thesaurus is being constructed from terms submitted by archives, archive projects and users of archives. By promoting greater consistency in the subject indexing terms which are being used by archives and archive projects, UKAT will help to facilitate reliable subject searching of resources in the National Archives Network. Contributions received so far include terms from the Access to Archives project (A2A), the Archives Hub, Archives in London and the M25 Area (AIM25), the CASBAH project, Gateway to Archives of Scottish Higher Education (GASHE), the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick, the MUNDUS project, the National Archives, the National Digital Archive of Datasets, and Warwickshire County Record Office. UKAT is being constructed by adding terms to and amending the structure of the UNESCO Thesaurus (http://www.ulcc.ac.uk/unesco/). Another key goal of the project is to promote the involvement in archives of groups which have previously been under-represented among archive users, by incorporating terminology relating to their histories and experiences. For further information about the project, see the UKAT website (http://www.ukat.org.uk/). The project team can be emailed at [log in to unmask] -------------------------------- Peter Garrod Archivist National Digital Archive of Datasets http://ndad.ulcc.ac.uk/ University of London Computer Centre 20 Guilford Street London WC1N 1DZ, UK Tel: +44 20 7692 1353