Thesaurus module

The Thesaurus module stores one or more thesauri with lists of terms which can be added to Thesaurus-controlled fields in other modules (when describing or categorising objects for instance). A Thesaurus-controlled field can be identified by the Thesaurus button beside it. A thesaurus can be used when searching, creating and editing records.

Fields in other modules can be attached to the Thesaurus and configured so that only valid terms (as defined in the thesaurus) will be accepted into the field. This ensures consistency in terms used to describe objects and facilitates searching.

It is possible to import a commercial thesaurus or to develop one in-house. Each thesaurus is identified by a unique acronym, e.g. AAT (Art Architecture Thesaurus), LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings).

The Thesaurus module has a Browse View which provides a hierarchical view of all loaded thesauri.

Typical Thesaurus module tabs and their purpose

Tab Description

Term

Holds Term details, including:

Name of the term
Acronym of the thesaurus to which the term belongs
Use and used for terms

Hierarchy

Holds Thesaurus details, including:

Full name of the thesaurus
List of hierarchy notations
Broader Terms
Classification
Narrower Terms
Related terms

Hierarchy View

The Hierarchy View tab1 displays the expanded thesaurus hierarchy for a single term in a thesaurus (the current record). Unlike Browse View it:

does not display the current term's child terms;

only displays Use and Used for terms for the current term.

In this example, we see the expanded hierarchy of the current record, the ions term:

Multiple terms can be selected on the Hierarchy View tab using the Ctrl or Shift keys while clicking with the mouse.

Right-click the Hierarchy View to access a menu with options for interacting with a term and, more generally, the hierarchy :

Note: The Hierarchy View menu can be accessed by clicking anywhere in the Hierarchy View, however some options are only valid for a specific term. A greyed out option cannot currently be performed. In this case it is necessary to right-click a term in order to perform a menu action on that term.

The Hierarchy View menu options are:

Menu option	Description
View	Open another instance of the Thesaurus module and display details of the selected term(s).
Select All	Selects all terms on the Hierarchy View tab.
Clear Selections	Clear the selection of terms on the Hierarchy View tab.
Show Primary Selection	Locate and display the term that is the primary selection. What is The primary selection? It is possible to select one or more terms on the Hierarchy View tab. The term that was last selected is called the primary selection. It can be identified by its dotted border. Useful if you have scrolled away from the primary selection on the Hierarchy View tab. Right-click anywhere in the Hierarchy View and select Show Primary Selection to locate the primary selection on the Hierarchy View tab.
Show Next Selection	When several terms have been selected, use this option to move to the next selected term and make it the primary selection. In this example, `ions` is the primary selection. Right-click anywhere in the Hierarchy View and select Show Next Selection to make `components` the primary selection: Selecting Show Next Selection will loop forwards through each selected term (`components` will loop to `materials` in this example).
Show Previous Selection	When several terms have been selected, use this option to move to the previous selected term and make it the primary selection. In the previous example, `ions` is the primary selection. Right-click anywhere in the Hierarchy View and select Show Previous Selection to make `materials` the primary selection. Selecting Show Previous Selection will loop backwards through each selected term (`materials` will loop to `components` in this example).
Show Parent	Right-click a child term to reveal its immediate parent term. The parent term is displayed at the top of the Hierarchy View.
Show Use/Used For	Select to show / hide the display of Use and Used For terms. Simultaneously toggles the display of Use and Used For terms on the Browse View panel.
Expand All	Expand all terms.
Expand Below	Expand the right-clicked term to reveal immediate child terms.
Collapse All	Collapse all expanded terms.
Collapse Top	Collapse the hierarchy to the top-level of the term that is right-clicked.
Collapse Above	Collapse the hierarchy to the immediate parent of the term that is right-clicked.
Collapse Below	Collapse any children terms of the term that is right-clicked

History

Term history details, including:

Change date
Person who made the changes to the term

A term in a thesaurus may have many different statuses. For example it may start as a candidate term, then become a valid term, then get moved in the thesaurus hierarchy and finally be retired by having a Use reference placed on it. Each of these changes may be recorded on the History tab. This provides the user with fields to record the date of change, to make notes regarding what change took place and to record who was responsible for authorising the change. By adding to these fields each time a change is made to a term a complete history of that term can be recorded:

History tab

Alerts

Used to allow alert messages to be displayed if there is something unusual about a term.

Search the Thesaurus module for the required term.
On the Alerts tab, type the text to be displayed in the alert in the Alerts field:
Save the record.
When a user selects the term, the alert is displayed:

AAT1

This is a British English equivalent of the US English information.

AAT2

This is a British English equivalent of the US English information.

LCSH TGM

Compatibility details with LCSH and TGM.

MESH 1

MESH medical terms.

MESH 2

MESH medical terms.

MESH 3

MESH medical terms.

Petrie

The latitude values of the term in the current record.
The longitude values of the term in the current record.
Notes pertaining to the latitude and longitude values of the term in the current record.

Notes

See Notes tab for details.

Multimedia

See Multimedia tab for details.

Security

See Security tab for details.

Audit

See Audit tab for details.

Admin

See Admin tab for details.