INFOMINE 'Hyper-Thesaurus''

[Gerry McKiernan]

Hi Steve/

On Friday, September 6, Steve Mitchell wrote to Web4Lib

What do you mean by a hyper-thesaurus? I'm thinking you could examine  the
subject headings (hyper-thes.?) list for any of the INFOMINEs. Hundreds of
terms, with item counts, for each general set of disciplines will be
All are linked to search the INFOMINE to which they apply.

  The application of LC headings within the INFOMINE collection
represents an outstanding example of the value-added benefit of
adopting/adapting standard library practices to the management
of Web resources.

  My concept of the 'hyper-thesaurus' takes this approach to the
next logical step. Instead of having _only_ an alphabetical listing
of headings with the associated number of entries within the
appropriate INFOMINE group, these subject headings are structured in
a way that is identical to their arrangement within the Library of
Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). For each entry within LCSH, the
Broader Term or phrase is indicated as are Narrower Terms and
Related Terms. This structure presents conceptual relationships
among terms and phrases.

  With the collection of headings within INFOMINE, I can see how
a hand-made LCSH subset could be easily created [Assuming of course
that neither of us has anything thing to do for the next six weeks
[:-)]. The key of course would be to automate the whole process as
has been done in the general INFOMINE environment, a truly original
and innovative approach!

  The INFOMINE collection and its associated collection of links to
specific Net resources would certainly be a most appropriate test-bed
for such an experiment.

  The initiatives at the Library of Congress, particularly
that with the thesaurus of graphic materials, is one of the
major efforts of which I am aware (and one of the best BTW).
[LC is of course also involved with larger projects in this
area with LCC and the general LCSH as a CD-ROM service]

  The URL for a representative presentation of what I have in mine
is:

http://lcweb.loc.gov/lexico/tgm1/h/Homing_pigeons.html

Homing pigeons

--[country or state]

Used For
     Carrier pigeons
     Homers (Birds)
     Racing pigeons
Broader Term
     >Pigeons
     >>Birds
     >>>Animals
Date Approved
     24-Feb-89

   Click through the hierarchy of Broader, Narrower and Related
terms for an idea of what I have in mind for this type of navigation.

   I can see this approach being modified to present the Web
resources (or even non-Web resources in an IPAC - an integrated
Internet OPAC [:->]) and used to provide additinal navigation
through a CyberCollection.

  Regards,

Gerry McKiernan
Curator, CyberStacks9sm)
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/

                     "Imagine"