Tutorial 7A: Thesauri and ontologies in digital libraries Part I. Structure and use in knowledge-based assistance to users.
Half day

This tutorial provides a bridge by presenting methods of subject access as treated in an information studies program for those coming to digital libraries from other fields. It will elucidate through examples the conceptual and vocabulary problems users face when searching digital libraries. It will then show how a well-structured thesaurus / ontology can be used as the knowledge base for an interface that can assist users with search topic clarification (for example through browsing well-structured hierarchies and guided facet analysis) and with finding good search terms (through query term mapping and query term expansion--synonyms and hierarchic inclusion). It will touch on cross-database and cross-language searching as natural extensions of these functions. It will also mention the use of more richly structured ontologies, including Semantic Web applications. The tutorial will cover the thesaurus structure needed to support these functions: Concept-term relationships for vocabulary control and synonym expansion, conceptual structure (semantic analysis, facets, and hierarchy) for topic clarification and hierarchic query term expansion). It will introduce a few sample thesauri and ontologies and some thesaurus-supported digital libraries and Web sites to illustrate these principles. See also afternoon tutorial Thesauri and ontologies in digital libraries Part II. Design, evaluation, and development.

Target Audience:
The tutorial is mainly targeted towards researchers and practitioners that are working in the area of digital libraries, digital library architectures, and innovative digital library services. Furthermore, the tutorial will also be an opportunity for other players to gain insights in the area of current developments in the area of next generation digital library architectures and new applications of Grid technology and the Peer-to-peer paradigm.

Level of experience required:
Introductory

Presenter:
Dagobert Soergel holds an MS equivalent in mathematics and physics (1964) and a PhD in political science (1970), both from the University of Freiburg, Germany. He is Professor of Information Studies, University of Maryland, where he teaches courses in information retrieval, thesaurus development, expert systems, and information technology, and an information systems consultant. He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Western Ontario, Chicago, and Konstanz, Germany. Among other books, he has authored Organizing Information (1985), which received the American Society of Information Science Best Book Award, Indexing Languages and Thesauri. Construction and Maintenance (1974) and numerous papers. He has designed several thesauri, most recently the Alcohol and Other Drug Thesaurus http://etoh.niaaa.nih.gov/AODVol1/Aodthome.htm (for which he chaired the advisory committee) and the Harvard Business Thesaurus (under development). He is developing TermMaster, a thesaurus management software package. In 1997 he received the American Society of Information Science Award of Merit.