Software for building and editing thesauri

DB

The thesaurus editor is a module of a database package

SA

A standalone thesaurus editing package

MU

A multi-user package, designed for cooperative use by teams of thesaurus developers

NC

I have not been able to contact the supplier to obtain details

NA

The program is no longer available

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The package is included in the comparison table giving more details of its specification.

a.k.a. is primarily designed for developing systems such as the Keyword AAA classification scheme developed in Australia for records management. Such a scheme is often called a "functions thesaurus" - see my separate note on this. This software can be used to build different types of scheme, but it is rather constrained by the requirement to assign terms to named levels at the top three levels, with restrinctions on the possible relationships between terms at each level. It uses standard windows editing tools, has a spell checker and provision for handling acronyms.

It can import existing thesauri from Keyword AAA, and thesauri built in PC DOCS^®, TRIM, Objective and Recfind, and from a text file in a specified format. Outputs are possible to a range of standard reports, as well as to HTML for on-line access, export files for PC DOCS^®, TRIM, Objective and Recfind, and folder structures in MS Explorer.

Amicus ® Thesaurus © is copyrighted (1999-2007) by Peter S. van der Jagt of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, who reserves exclusive rights to the software.

As well as standard functionality the software provides for:

• analytical notes
• translations of terms
• cross-reference to other indexing system
• translated thesauri - automatic
• permuted index - automatic
• Web publishing - automatic
• Web links to other language - automatic
• print publishing
• work sharing

$450.00 Canadian or $300.00 US for the first two copies running on separate machines, and for each additional copy after the first two. A 30-day trial version of the Thesaurus system is available for download and installation; after payment is processed an activation code will be sent to convert this into a licenced copy.

Allows many forms of printed output (alphabetical, hierarchical, permuted, rotated etc.). Versions available in English, Catalan and Spanish. The program can be used with any European language compatible with ASCII CP 850 (the same character repertoire as ISO 8859/Latin 1). It was developed by Josep Sau as a private, non-commercial project; he will provide support "with good will, with no profit, but at [his] convenience".

This MS-DOS program runs noticeably faster than most of the Windows packages. It has a good graphical interface, though use of the mouse is not supported. Very full logging and statistics.

Classification Editor is currently a client-server application, which runs on SQLServer 7 or above and Windows (95 onwards) clients. A stand-alone version should be available soon. A Toolkit can be purchased which gives a Company licence to integrate the functionality and services of Classification Editor into other software services.

Links of any type can be defined in the editor, and user-defined properties can be associated with each term. The application handles polyhierarchical structures and allows the moving of complete hierarchical sub-sections at the click of a mouse.

Standard alphabetical and hierarchical outputs can be used to transfer data from one package to the other. XML import and export capabilities allow a wide range of input and output formats to be created using standard freely available scripting technologies such as XSLT style-sheets, Perl, Python etc.

- Tikit Web site and notes from suppliers, edited.

Cognatrix is fully self-contained and does not depend upon any database packages or third-party applications. You rearrange the items in the tree via drag and drop. There is no limit on the depth of the taxonomic hierarchy. Wherever possible, Cognatrix tries to avoid opening windows and dialogs. For example, you edit item names in the Type/Name column and user-defined fields in the editing area of the main document window.

Any number of user-defined notes and attributes may be created. Data is held in XML files using the Apple Property List DTD and may be exported as tab-separated text or XML conformant with either the Cognatrix or Zthes 0.5 DTDs. A free helper application, CognatrixImporter, is used to import thesaurus data in some XML and other proprietary formats.

• Main features
• • Descriptors management: as well as scope notes, historical notes, classification codes, state and related non-descriptors
  • Reciprocal relationships creation in an automatic way
  • Change management
  • Textual source management for every descriptor
  • Relationships management: those defined by the standard as well as any kind of relationship created by the user
  • Multiple and synchronized view: hierarchical, alphabetic and KWIC
  • Poly-hierarchies
  • Advanced search engine
  • Thesaurus statistics
  • Idiomatic equivalence among several languages
  • Smart removal options
  • Multiple status for every term: accepted, candidate or invalid
  • Suggestions management
  • Support of full expand and full collapse of thesaurus
  • Easy drag and drop creation of hierarchies
  • Stop-list definition
  •  
• Import and export in various formats
•  
• Reporting: the whole thesaurus or a single family
• • Alphabetical report
  • Alphabetical report hyperlinked (a html file is generated)
  • Hierarchical report
  • Hierarchical report with index (a Word file, sMS Word is needed)
  • KWIC report
  • KWOC report
  • Statistics
  •  
• Graphical visualization
• • The neighbourhood of a term
  • Overall graphical visualization
  • Navigable visualization

Spanish and English versions available.
MS Access or Microsoft SQLServer can be used to host the database

• user interface based on Lotus Domino 6.x and Web browser
• terminology developement and maintenance on standalone computers or as client server application in a network
• web browser is used for search and navigation, suggesting new terms or discussing current terms
• visualization, which can be embedded in other applications - see http://www.dandelon.com
• publishing the term base as html files or server based via Lotus Domino web server
• distributed environment with different access levels (server based only)
• language, topic, facet and text fields of variable length, usable for multimedia data
• homonyms like "bank (finance)", "bank (snow, wall)", "bank (furniture)", "bank (technique)"
• multilingual terminology
• up to 26 different thesaurus relations as default, can be reduced by Admin or expanded to any number of relationships
• automatic reciprocal relations including validation according to definable rules
• addition or change of relation types
• complete integration of thesaurus and classification concepts
• sorting of lists in several ways
• hierachical lists of classifications
• hyperlinks between all elements of the network (term - term, term - class)
• fulltext searching
• export files for MS Word, HTML, XML and some retrieval systems
• export to CAI format - for automatic indexing of documents by CAI-Engine
• Import from IC CATE - statistical ranked candidates for improving a thesaurus
• printing forms
• suggestion of new terms or discussion of active terms by end users via Lotus Notes or Web interface

Optional features

• integrated machine translation optional with powerful translation workflow, default German, English, French, more languages available.
• integration in Information Center, indexing subform
• automatic generation of new candidates for term base [Not clear what this means]

• Windows 95 or NT workstation: Pentium 166, 32Mb; NT LAN server: Pentium 166, 64Mb; Sun Solaris: Netra or equivalent, 32Mb; SGI Irix: Indy or equivalent, 64Mb; IBM AIX: RS-6000, 64Mb. Also available for Linux and other Unix systems.
• System is Java-based; interface is a standard Web browser such as Netscape 4.04.
• PostScript printer recommended. ASCII output is also available, but this may have to be formatted for printing by using external word processing software before.

• Thesaurus can be accessed and/or manipulated over the Internet. Descriptive note fields permit tracking of various details such as rationale for term selection, instructions for cataloging and retrieval, historical information, etc.
• Candidate terms and relationships may be added but remain distinct until approved.
• It is possible to create a "micro-thesaurus" by choosing one or more terms and expanding the hierarchies linked to those terms only.
• The previous version of this package, "LEXICO/2", was used by the Library of Congress to manage vocabularies and thesauri for:
  • Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
  • Global Legal Information Network Thesaurus
  • Legislative Indexing Vocabulary
  • Symbols of American Libraries Listing

Livelink Collections Server (formerly BASIS®) Webtop Thesaurus Manager (Webtop TM) is a flexible application interface to browse and maintain terms and relations managed in a Livelink Collections Server Thesaurus database. Webtop TM is available as a module of Webtop Suite and can be added to an existing Webtop configuration or can be purchased separately. [Although not stated explicitly in the data sheet, this product also seems to have superseded the thesaurus functions of BRS/SEARCH, which is now called "Livelink Discovery Server".]

The thesaurus supports 13 ANSI standard relation types including: cross-references, broader and narrower terms, related terms, abbreviations, scope notes and history notes. Webtop TM is a Web-based interface for terminology specialists to add, update, and delete thesaurus terms and relations. Built using Java and Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) Webtop TM provides standard Web-based access to Thesauri extending the application development possibilities. - Data sheet.

Documentation is in German. Appears to provide full thesaurus functionality, with all the standard relationships. Handles a multilingual thesaurus with up to nine languages in addition to the primary language. Five user-defined note fields. Allows terms to be allocated bo classes, unclassified terms automaticaly inheriting the class of their broader terms. Supports polyhierarchy. Output in alphabetical, hierarchical and HTML versions.

Live demonstration version of thesaurus output is available on the suppliers' Web site, from where a demonstration version and a full manual can be downloaded.

MTM is the software for multilingual thesauri building and maintenance. It has been designed as a configurable system assisting a user in creating concepts, linking them by means of a set of predefined relations, and controlling the validity of the thesaurus structure. The system has been developed on top of Micro CDS/ISIS, as a collection of programs written in ISIS/PASCAL. The current version, MTM-4, has been developed in cooperation with INFOTERM and TERMNET (Austria).

The main features of the software are inter alia:

• thesaurus maintenance and support system;
• KWOC and full tree representation and navigation tools available on-line;
• KWIC, KWOC and full tree printouts (in an alphabetic and systematic order);
• defining and customization of up to 100 conceptual relationship types;
• management of facets, codes (top classification), sources, regional variants, historical notes, etc.;
• support of the various types of authority files;
• computer assisted merging;
• thesauri comparison by means of windows;
• support of the various alphabets;
• support of linguistic and orthographic variants;
• sorting facilities consistent with national standards;
• variable length data handling;
• flexibility in defining input and output forms;
• versatility in terms of relative ease of configuring the software for the various sets of languages;
• flexibility in defining data structures needed for a given application;
• a possibility to exchange data with other organizations and systems through exporting and importing terms and relations.

From the terminal user standpoint MTM fulfills the following criteria:

• user-friendliness when entering, updating, deleting, checking data;
• intelligent prompting of the end user whenever in doubt;
• powerful validation facilities covering proper structuring of a thesaurus (e.g. maintenance of relationship isomorphism between languages);
• features for documenting ("keeping track") the history of the thesaurus evolution;
• availability of data protection facilities;
• availability of self-training and demonstration facilities;
• provision of a thesaurus publishing facilities at the professional level;
• modularity and openness to the further development.

• Report generator allows you to select the relationships and the terms you want to print depending on various conditions (e.g. TopTerms only, approved terms only, orphans, or those terms that have a given relationship).
• HTML and XML file generator (included in the standard version at no additional charge): Creates all the .html files necessary to put your thesaurus on your Intranet or your Web Site on the Internet.

• Single user licence: 295 USD, annual maintenance 125 USD.
• Also available: network and site licences for 5, 10 and unlimited users

The Multilingual Thesaurus Development System consists of three independent subsystems not relying one on another. Each subsystem is dedicated for different applications, for users of completely different profiles, utilising the same data structures:

• Thesaurus Edition Subsystem (MTL)
• Thesaurus Keyword Querying Subsystem allowing for employment in any software working on Windows platform.
• Thesaurus Keyword Interchange Subsystem supporting keyword interchange among independent centres (Keyword Interchange Centre).

Main Advantages:

• Creation and edition of many thesauruses concurrently.
• Thesaurus structure creation: relation definition, notes definition, etc.
• Multilingual thesaurus import and its conversion to local format preserving original thesaurus structure.
• Imported descriptors selection and its linking to local descriptors.
• Equivalent descriptor usage for bibliographic entry querying in every linguistic version.
• Multilevel bibliographic entry querying with descriptors.
• Descriptors complementation (in separate field) with explanations concerning its meaning and/or usage scope (i.e. "scope notes"), separately for every linguistic version.
• Ability to interconnect the thesaurus to any system, environment, application.
• Possibility of distributed thesaurus creation, and following consolidation of parts of multilingual thesaurus developed in many centres.

[These notes are from the CORDIS Web site, presumably provided by the supplier.]

The Oracle text retrieval software seems to have been named TermServer3; ConText and InterMedia as it has been developed. It now appears to be bundled with version 9i of the Oracle database under the name "Oracle Text". This software includes a thesaurus management package.There is a lot of information on Oracle's Web sites, but it is difficult to determine which items are current and to obtain a comprehensive list of the thesaurus features. The most useful page is http://otn.oracle.com/products/text/index.html; the Technical white paper (.pdf format) listed there gives some information and illustrates the graphical interface to the thesaurus management system. Registration (free) is necessary to view these pages.

This is a module within a major database software system, not a standalone thesaurus development package. It would allow thesaurus functions to be integrated reasonably easily into any information retrieval system that was being developed using Oracle.

Especially for France: Euroclid, 5, Boulevard des Bouvets, 92000 Nanterre, France

SuperThes replaces the previous software called THESMain. It may be used in conjunction with the standalone thesaurus display package THESShow and a Web display module THESWeb is being designed.

SuperThes is used for visualisation and maintenance of thesaurus data according to DIN 1462 /ISO 2788 and DIN /ISO 5964 The application has been developed in Delphi, a Pascal dialect by Borland/Inprise. The programming language offers true object-oriented programming support as well as the stability common to Pascal programs. SuperThes runs as a client/server application. All persistent data will be kept within the relational database system Interbase.

SuperThes has an English user interface. Unicode is used so that all languages, character sets and glyphs installed on the system may be used. Thus languages like Greek, Russian but also Chinese or Hebrew do not present problems. Input method editors, which are common to Asian languages, are possible. Different fonts are also available.

Besides the main Thesaurus structure, a SuperThes Thesaurus may contain other user definable tables, which may be used to describe the main Thesaurus in a more detailed way or to keep attached data in them.

Convenient data exchange with standard office applications using state-of-the-art technologies like drag and drop, a powerful report generator and bulk data extraction using either standard file formats or XML

Synapticas server-side requirements are:

• Windows 2000/2003 Server operating system
• Internet Information Server (IIS) Web server
• Microsoft SQL Server 2000+ DBMS
• Oracle 9i+ DBMS running on Windows or UNIX

The client-side requirements are any PC or Mac with Microsoft IE or Netscape 6.0 or higher.

"Synaptica supports the creation of electronic thesauri in compliance with ANSI/NISO Standard Z39.19-1993. Features include:

• Dynamically enforced thesaurus rules-base
• Simple search (descriptors or keywords)
• Power search (over a dozen filters)
• Popup windows displaying term details
• Expandable hierarchies and relationships
• Multiple categories for a single term
• Logical delete and restore of terms
• User ID and date-time stamping
• Approval and candidate term statuses
• Concept clusters of multiple terms
• Customized term templates and descriptor fields
• Customized relationship types and behavior
• Customized data entry rules
• Online reports using report wizards
• Online CSV format output files
• Segregated data by vocabulary files and categories
• User permissions with 10 levels of privilege
• (Poly-)hierarchical