Thesauri and Formal Classifications: Terminologies for People and Machines

A. L. Rector

doi:10.1055/s-0038-1634547

Methods of Information in Medicine, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Methods Inf Med 1998; 37(04/05): 501-509
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1634547

Original Article

Schattauer GmbH

Thesauri and Formal Classifications: Terminologies for People and Machines

Authors

A. L. Rector

¹Medical Informatics Group, Department of Computer Science University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Abstract

Terminologies are now software. They are key components of the integration of electronic patient records, decision support systems and information retrieval systems. To be used as software, the different types of content in traditional terminologies must be separated, which we term here: conceptual, linguistic, inferential and pragmatic. The conceptual knowledge at the heart of the terminology needs to be expressed formally in order to provide a dependable framework for the other types of knowledge. Information left implicit in most existing coding and classification systems must be made explicit. The test of the resulting terminologies is how well they support software for key functions: including data entry, information retrieval, mediation, indexing, and authoring.

Keywords

Terminologies - Software - Concept Representation

Volltext

Referenzen

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