05 February 2007

Forced Migration Controlled Vocabularies

Blogger.com (my blog's host) recently implemented a "label" feature. So for each post I create, I can now add labels (or keywords, index terms, subject headings...) to describe the content. Each label is an active link, which means readers can retrieve other posts that have been assigned the same labels. Over time, the labels will create a browsable cross-referencing system to allow readers to locate related posts in my blog, supplementing the "type" categories I've already established to organize each post and complementing the existing search function.

The challenge with applying labels is being consistent with regard to the term you select and its spelling. Fortunately, the field of forced migration has several thesauri or controlled vocabularies at its disposal which were developed for this very purpose.

International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology (UNHCR/FMO) [access]
- French version available. Terms are provided in English, French and Spanish. This is used for cataloguing purposes by a number of forced migration libraries, including the Refugee Studies Centre library, the UNHCR library, and the Forced Migration & Refugee Studies grey literature collection.

Controlled Vocabulary Lists (OCHA) [access - note: this is an Excel spreadsheet]
- See "keyword" tab. Developed along with a number of other tools to facilitate information management in humanitarian emergencies.

Disasters Controlled Vocabulary (Centro Regional de InformaciĆ³n sobre Desastres) [text]
- Vocabulary terms are provided in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Human Rights Micro-Thesauri (HURIDOCS) [access]
- These were developed for documenting human rights violations.

I am going to experiment with terms from the aforementioned refugee thesaurus for my labels. For an example of how labels work , click on the "terminology" link below.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

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