Terminology Cross-Domain Final Report

Terminology Cross-Domain Final Report Submitted by Joseph T. Tennis September 1, 2006 Introduction The InterPARES 2 Terminology Cross-Domain has created three terminological instruments in service to the project, and by extension, Archival Science. Over the course of the five-year project this Cross-Domain has collected words, definition, and phrases from extant documents, research tools, models, and direct researcher submission and discussion. From these raw materials, the Cross-Domain has identified a systematic and pragmatic way establishing a coherent view on the concepts involved in dynamic, experiential, and interactive records and systems in the arts, sciences, and e-government. The three terminological instruments are the Glossary, Dictionary, and Ontologies. The first of these is an authoritative list of terms and definitions that are core to our understanding of the evolving records creation, keeping, and preservation environments. The Dictionary is a tool used to facilitate interdisciplinary communication. It contains multiple definitions for terms, from multiple disciplines. By using this tool, researchers can see how Archival Science deploys terminology compared to Computer Science, Library and Information Science, or Arts, etc. The third terminological instrument, the Ontologies, identify explicit relationships between concepts of records. This is useful for communicating the nuances of Diplomatics in the dynamic, experiential, and interactive environment. All three of these instruments were drawn from a Register of terms gathered over the course of the project. This Register served as a holding place for terms, definitions, and phrases, and allowed researchers to discuss, comment on, and modify submissions. The Register and the terminological instruments were housed in the Terminology Database. The Database provides searching, display, and file downloads – making it easy to navigate through the terminological instruments. Terminology used in InterPARES 1 and the UBC Project was carried forward to this Database. In this sense, we are building on our past knowledge, and making it relevant to the contemporary environment. Statistics and Structure of Terminological Instruments Dictionary The Dictionary is the largest of the terminological instruments. It contains 604 terms, each with multiple definitions. The entries in the Dictionary follow a standard format: term, part of speech, definition, disciplinary classification, and citation. For example: Figure 1. “Tool” entry in IP2 Dictionary Glossary The Glossary is smaller than the Dictionary because it includes the only meaning in which each term is used within InterPARES 2 documents. The Glossary terms with their definitions are the key to the communication of the findings of InterPARES 2. There are 432 terms in the Glossary. The format is similar to the Dictionary, but as already stated, with usually only a single definition for each term. Exceptions arise when there is a single term for many concepts. An example of the Glossary looks like this: Figure 2. “Archives” entry in the IP2 Glossary – illustrating a polysemous term A key support mechanism for both Glossary and Dictionary is the bibliography. Where possible we rooted our definitions in extant literature, and cited it in these two instruments. This truly provides context for our definitions because it stitches our words with other texts. Ontologies In order to illustrate explicit relationships between terms in the Glossary, the Terminology Cross-Domain constructed Ontologies. In this instance, Ontologies illustrate the relationship between Diplomatic terms. For example, we can illustrate the component parts of Trustworthiness and their relationships: Figure 3. “Trustworthiness” in IP2 Ontology C The Terminology Cross-Domain constructed three Ontologies: (1) Archives and Records, (2) Status of Transmission, and (3) Trustworthiness. All of these Diplomatic concepts are core to our understanding of records in dynamic, experiential, and interactive systems; and are made clearer through specific explication. The Cross-Domain and its Work The Terminology Cross-Domain acted as a service group to the InterPARES 2 project. It is hoped that it fulfilled the same role to Archival Science. In the process of constructing these terminological instruments we have made great steps in advancing our understanding of Archival concepts in the contemporary environment and expanded our vocabulary to include new ways of thinking about age-old problems. Terminology work is not without its challenges. The challenges of terminological work – on any scale – are challenges of time and socio-political negotiation. As knowledge develops over time new terms surface, old terms are reinterpreted, forgotten, ossified in their original context, or brought forward into a new and vibrant scholarly discourse. Archival terminology is rich in expressiveness and history. As a service group, we have aimed at keeping terminological tradition, innovation, and integration a positive and productive venture for our project researchers and for Archival Science. Public Access to Terminology Database At the close of the InterPARES 2 project the Terminology database will be made available to the general public via the web. The Dictionary and Glossary are searchable and downloadable in pdf form, and the Ontologies are available in pdf form. Bibliography InterPARES 2 Terminology Database Available: http://www.interpares.org/ip2/ip2_terminology_db.cfm