The future of metadata: open, linked, and multilingual – the YSO case
| Pages | 451-465 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2016-0084 |
| Published date | 08 May 2017 |
| Date | 08 May 2017 |
| Author | Satu Niininen,Susanna Nykyri,Osma Suominen |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
The future of metadata:
open, linked, and
multilingual –the YSO case
Satu Niininen
National Library of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Susanna Nykyri
Research Services Department, National Library of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, and
Osma Suominen
Library Network Services Department, National Library of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is threefold: to focus on the process of multilingual concept scheme
construction and the challenges involved; to addresses concrete challenges faced in the construction process
and especially those related to equivalence between terms and concepts; and to briefly outlines the translation
strategies developed during the process of concept scheme construction.
Design/methodology/approach –The analysis is based on experience acquired during the establishment
of the Finnish thesaurus and ontology service Finto as well as the trilingual General Finnish Ontology YSO,
both of which are being maintained and further developed at the National Library of Finland.
Findings –Although uniform resource identifiers can be considered language-independent, they do not
render concept schemes and their construction free of language-related challenges. The fundamental issue
with all the challenges faced is how to maintain consistency and predictability when the nature of language
requires each concept to be treated individually. The key to such challenges is to recognisethe function of the
vocabulary and the needs of its intended users.
Social implications –Open science increases the transparency of not only research products, but also
metadata tools. Gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges involved in their construction is important
for a great variety of users –e.g. indexers, vocabulary builders and information seekers. Today,
multilingualism is an essential aspect at both the national and international information society level.
Originality/value –This paper draws on the practical challenges faced in concept scheme construction in a
trilingual environment, with a focus on “concept scheme”as a translation and mapping unit.
Keywords Translation, Metadata, Discourses, Multilingualism, Open science, Equivalence,
Concept schemes, Controlled vocabularies
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
This paper focusses on the process of multilingual concept scheme construction and the
challenges it involves. The analysis is based on experience gathered during the
establishment of the Finnish thesaurus and ontology service Finto as well as the trilingual
General Finnish Ontology YSO, both of which are being maintained and further developed
at the National Library of Finland.
In this paper, concept scheme is understood as a vocabulary tool used for indexing and
information retrieval in the same sense as thesauri and other types of vocabularies as
described in ISOstandards (see ISO 25964-1:2011,4; 14). Furthermore, it has been understood
as a tool to promote open access to information and science (Nykyri and Niininen, 2015).
We shall also discuss concept scheme as a translation and mapping unit, and briefly outline
the translation strategies developed during the process of concept scheme construction.
With an overwhelming amount of data being published globally in a wide range of
formats, locating and accessing relevant information is a challenge. In addition to better Journal of Documentation
Vol. 73 No. 3, 2017
pp. 451-465
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-06-2016-0084
Received 22 June 2016
Revised 26 October 2016
Accepted 27 October 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
We thank Thomas Baker for his insightful comments about concept schemes and their relationship to
thesauri and ontologies.
451
The future of
metadata
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