Annie,

Thank you for your excellent contribution, and welcome to the debate - can I
encourage everyone else out there who wants to comment to please feel free
to do so. The value of a discussion such as this lies precisely in the width
of participation.

To address just one of the points you raise...

You wrote

>
in seeking
to address bias in shared terminology, i feel the 'regnal' discussion neatly
illustrates our individual sensitivities. this is not just an academic
point,  it means we must also recognise the same range of sensitivities will
exist amongst database users, and that the explanation of agreed standards
for all users is likely to be the real minefield if it is not to cause
unwitting offence.
>

I agree entirely. However what we are trying to build here is as inclusive a
standard as possible. The draft so far produced reflects the experience of
English professionals working in England with English material. However the
objective for this, and indeed any thesaurus, is to provide a tool for the
discovery of information relevant to an enquiry, *not* a 'database' of
accepted terms (and thus by implication excluding those not included). A
thesaurus structure gives us the flexibility to include *any* term which can
usefully identify a distinct time period. 

This is the reasoning behind the inclusion as terms of the name / title of
any historical figure (including but not limited to monarchs) whose
influence upon contemporary events (however we as individuals or as a
society view them in retrospect) has been such that for their name / title
to may be a term that those interested in history are likely to use for
information retrieval. 

We sidestep the minefield by adopting this open-ended approach. Clearly
there are additional historical / political terms that are needed (as well
as in the other classes of the thesaurus). But the draft thesaurus is
intended to give us the *structure* that we need - once agreed in principle
it can be extended as far as resources allow to provide adequate coverage.
All participants  - let us have your terms!

Edmund Lee
FISHEN Coordinator


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