Analysis of equivalence mapping for terminology services

This paper assesses the range of equivalence or mapping types required to facilitate interoperability in the context of a distributed terminology server. A detailed set of mapping types were examined, with a view to determining their validity for characterizing relationships between mappings from selected terminologies (AAT, LCSH, MeSH, and UNESCO) to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) scheme. It was hypothesized that the detailed set of 19 match types proposed by Chaplan in 1995 is unnecessary in this context and that they could be reduced to a less detailed conceptually-based set. Results from an extensive mapping exercise support the main hypothesis and a generic suite of match types are proposed, although doubt remains over the current adequacy of the developing Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) Core Mapping Vocabulary Specification (MVS) for inter-terminology mapping

Lex Informatica: The Formulation of Information Policy Rules through Technology

Historically, law and government regulation have established default rules for information policy, including constitutional rules on freedom of expression and statutory rights of ownership of information. This Article will show that for network environments and the Information Society, however, law and government regulation are not the only source of rule-making. Technological capabilities and system design choices impose rules on participants. The creation and implementation of information policy are embedded in network designs and standards as well as in system configurations. Even user preferences and technical choices create overarching, local default rules. This Article argues, in essence, that the set of rules for information flows imposed by technology and communication networks form a “Lex Informatica” that policymakers must understand, consciously recognize, and encourage

Systems for the Nineties - Distributed Multimedia Systems

We live at the dawn of the information age. The capabilities of computers to store and look up information are only just beginning to be exploited. As little as ten years ago, practically all the information stored in computers was entered and retrieved in the form of text. Today, we are just starting to use other means of communicating information between people and machines -- computers can now scan images, they can record sound, they can produce synthesized speech, and they can show two- and three-dimensional images of spatial data. The realization that we are still at the beginning of the information age comes when we notice the vast difference between the way in which people interact with each other and the way in which people can interact with (or through) machines. When people communicate, they tend to use speech, gestures, touch, even smell; they draw pictures on the white board, they use text, pictures, photos, graphs, sometimes even video presentations. nterpersonal communication is truly multimedia communication in that it makes use of all our senses