Notation Module in Thesaurus Master™

Data Harmony's optional Notation Module represents a new way of structuring thesaurus material. Notations are prepended onto thesaurus terms.The notation forms the basis for an alternate ordering of the terms within the thesaurus. Notations can be alphabetical, numeric, or a combination both

The notational hierarchy can be designed to reflect an ordering strategy that fits unique needs in addition to the standard alphabetic ordering of sibling term groups of a traditional thesaurus. For example, the Transportation Research Thesaurus uses alphabetical notation to order the top terms. The term "Transportation" appears first. In an alphabetical ordering of top terms, "Transportation" would be 3rd from last. In this thesaurus, all the notations are alphabetical. A small excerpt is shown below:

ATransportation

AaMultimodal transportation
AbIntermodal transportation
AcDual mode transportation systems
AeTransportation modes

AeaAir transportation
AegGround transportation
AesWater transportation
AetPublic transit
AexNonmotorized transportation

AfTransportation by environment
AiTransportation by load
AmTransportation by ownership

Notations allow great flexibility in thesaurus construction and are used to more accurately reflect user-defined weighting and prioritization of terms. Notation allows a thesaurus to reflect:

Process structure
- Thesaurus structure may now match the steps of a process or workflow in the order that they are followed within the business or industry.
System structure
- An annotated thesaurus can prioritize as well as accurately map the structure of a system—from top level, to component, to sub-component.
Organization structure
- Departments of an organizational structure may be placed according to priority, funding, etc.
Filtering levels
- Terms can be filtered based on notation. With a notation format that uses a decimal delimiter, all second-level terms can be identified by the ".2" in their notation. The second level term in the first branch of the thesaurus would have the notation of 1.2; the second level term in the second, third, and fourth branches would carry notations of 2.2, 3.2, 4.2. Data discovery tools can be set to recognize terms with the same levels of notation or to select which areas of data are examined first based on notations
Security levels
- The thesaurus structure can reflect levels of security or access within a system or organization.
Report or manual structure
- The terms in the thesaurus can be ordered to reflect a report or manual used within a business or organization; the thesaurus itself forms the index structure of the document.
Frequency weighting
- Terms can be arranged within the thesaurus to reflect frequency of term appearances within databases or other material.
Chronological order
- Terms may reflect the order in which they were added to the thesaurus or may reflect a fiscal cycle.
Multiple sources or editors
- When several thesauri are being combined, prepended notations may reflect the source of a term in order to provide ready visual cues for editors combining the terms into a new structure. A notation prefix may also be assigned to each editor involved in creating or maintaining a thesaurus, to easily “brand” work as it is done.

Another advantage of notation is the intuitive positional relationship when a term record is viewed in isolation. The notation contains information which gives the user insight into the hierarchical position of the term: “2.2.3: Passenger service” immediately indicates that this is a third-level term, under the top term annotated with “2.”

While notation allows freedom from strict alphabetical structure, a thesaurus can be both annotated and alphabetized, to exploit the strengths of both systems, as shown in the example below:

1: Apples

1.1: Granny Smith
1.2: Jonathan
1.3: Winesap

2: Bananas
3: Oranges
4: Pears

The Notation Module is designed to allow instant toggling between the annotated form and a traditional hierarchical view—the best of both worlds!

Here is a simple thesaurus in the Notation View:

1: Physics

1.1: Nuclear Physics
1.2: Astrophysics
1.3: Geophysics

2: Chemistry
3: Biology
4: Mathematics

Here's the same thesaurus in the traditional hierarchy view, alphabetized:

Biology
Chemistry
Mathematics
Physics

Astrophysics
Geophysics
Nuclear Physics

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