| alternate descriptor |
A variant form of a descriptor available for
use; usually a singular form or a different part of speech than the descriptor;
abbreviated as ALT. |
| authority file |
A set of records for established headings and the
cross-references to be made to and from each heading, often citing the authority
for the preferred form or variants. Types of authority files include name
authority files, subject authority files, and thesauri (NISO). They may
include notes on local usage. |
| bound term |
A descriptor consisting of a compound term (NISO)
representing a single concept; the meaning is lost or altered if the term is
split into its component words. |
| coined term |
A new term or neologism especially created in a target
language to express a concept, which is represented by an existing recognized
term in a source language, but which has not previously been expressed in the
target language (ISO 5964, p. 2). |
| descriptor |
A type of heading that is a term chosen as the preferred
expression of a concept in a thesaurus (NISO). Also called main term,
postable term, or preferred term. |
| decoordination |
The splitting of a compound term into its component
words to stand as individual terms. This is done in the AAT following specific
editorial rules found in the AAT Editorial Manual. |
| equal status |
Languages in a multilingual thesaurus have equal status
when every preferred term in one language is matched by an equivalent preferred
term in all other languages (ISO 5964, p. 2). |
| feedback |
The act of changing the form or structure of a term in a
source language in order to achieve an easier or a more useful solution to a
problem encountered in a target language (ISO 5964, pp. 2-3). |
| guide term |
A constructed term, often a phrase, which is not assigned
to documents or subjects when indexing, but which is inserted into the
hierarchical section of some thesauri to indicate the logical basis on which a
class has been divided (ISO 2788). Guide terms may also be used to group
categories of related terms in the alphabetical section of a thesaurus (NISO,
at "node label"). |
| hierarchy |
Generic (broader)-specific (narrower) or whole-part
relationships, which are generally indicated in a thesaurus through codes or
indentation (NISO). A graphic arrangement of terms showing genus-species
or broader-narrower relationships between the terms. |
| homograph |
One of two or more words that have the same spelling, but
different meanings and origins. In thesauri, homographs are generally
distinguished by qualifiers. See also qualifier(NISO).
|
| lead-in term | See Use For |
| loan term |
A term in one language (source language) which has been
adopted without change in a second (or target) language, i. e. ,
Kindergarten (de) and kindergartens (en) (ISO 5964, p. 3).
|
| postcoordination |
The combining of descriptors at the searching stage
rather than at the subject heading list construction stage or indexing stage
(NISO). |
| precoordination |
The formulation of a multiword subject heading or
the linking of a heading with a subheading at the indexing stage to express a
compound concept, e.g., cataloging of serials, cataloging-serials, or serials
cataloging. Precoordination differs from the establishment of compound terms as
descriptors (NISO). |
| qualifier |
A defining term, also known as "gloss," that is part of a
descriptor, subject heading, or lead-in term, but separated from it by
punctuation (generally parentheses). The qualifier distinguishes a descriptor
from otherwise identical descriptors that have different meanings. See also
homograph (NISO). |
| scope note | A note following a descriptor explaining its coverage,
specialized usage, or rules for assigning it; abbreviated as SN (NISO).
|
| source language | The language that serves as the starting point when
a preferred term is translated into its nearest equivalent term or terms in a
second (or target) language (ISO 5964, p. 3). |
| target language | The language into which a term first encountered in
another language (the source language) is translated (ISO 5964, p. 3).
|
| Use For | A synonym or spelling variant of a descriptor; also called
lead-in term, nonpreferred term; abbreviated UF. |