Knowledge organization systems

an updated typology

Abstract

In the last twenty years, two simultaneous processes of evolution and diversification of the instruments used for the representation and thematic retrieval of documents and other information resources have taken place. To the progressive development of classification systems, thesauri and lists of headings, new conceptual structures that are linked to specific computer applications (ontologies) or other specific purposes within the circuit of information (synonym rings), were added. In this paper, firstly, several of the generic library science conceptual frameworks for the classification and indexing of documents are identified and analyzed. The use of the generic term "knowledge organization system" is selected and suggested. This system is presented as a structure (plot of concepts) and a representation (systematic replica of accumulated knowledge, which is sometimes seen from a certain philosophical or epistemological view) and its essential features are established. Thirteen different types of knowledge organization systems are reviewed. Among other findings, it is established the importance of information professionals to identify, categorize and value each type of conceptual framework, since each of them provides alternative or complementary solutions to problems of representation and topic search.