Section 9.7. Semantic Relationships


9.7. Semantic Relationships

What sets a thesaurus apart from the simpler controlled vocabularies is its rich array of semantic relationships. Let's explore each relationship more closely.

9.7.1. Equivalence

The equivalence relationship (Figure 9-21) is employed to connect preferred terms and their variants. While we may loosely refer to this as "synonym management," it's important to recognize that equivalence is a broader term than synonymy.

Figure 9-21. The equivalence relationship


Our goal is to group terms defined as "equivalent for the purposes of retrieval." This may include synonyms, near-synonyms, acronyms, abbreviations, lexical variants, and common misspellings; for example:


Preferred term

Palm m505


Variant terms (equivalents)

Palm, Palm Pilot, Palm 505, Palm505, Palm V, Handheld, Pocket PC, Handspring Visor

In the case of a product database, it may also include the names of retired products and of competitors' products. Depending on the desired specificity of your controlled vocabulary, you may also fold more general and more specific terms into the equivalence relationship to avoid extra levels of hierarchy. The goal is to create a rich entry vocabulary that serves as a funnel, connecting users with the products, services, and content that they're looking for and that you want them to find.

9.7.2. Hierarchical

The hierarchical relationship (Figure 9-22) divides up the information space into categories and subcategories, relating broader and narrower concepts through the familiar parent-child relationship.

Figure 9-22. The hierarchical relationship


There are three subtypes of hierarchical relationship:


Generic

This is the traditional class-species relationship we draw from biological taxonomies. Species B is a member of Class A and inherits the characteristics of its parent. For example, Bird NT Magpie.


Whole-part

In this hierarchical relationship, B is a part of A. For example, Foot NT Big Toe.


Instance

In this case, B is an instance or example of A. This relationship often includes proper names. For example, Seas NT Mediterranean Sea.

At first blush, the hierarchical relationship sounds pretty straightforward. However, anyone who's ever developed a hierarchy knows that it isn't as easy as it sounds. There are many different ways to hierarchically organize any given information space (e.g., by subject, by product category, or by geography). As we'll explain shortly, a faceted thesaurus supports the common need for multiple hierarchies. You also need to deal with the tricky issues of granularity, defining how many layers of hierarchy to develop.

Once again, we need to ground our work in the ultimate goal of enhancing the ability of our users to find what they need. The card-sorting methodologies (discussed in Chapter 10) can help you begin to shape your hierarchies based on user needs and behaviors.

9.7.3. Associative

The associative relationship (Figure 9-23) is often the trickiest, and by necessity is usually developed after you've made a good start on the other two relationship types. In thesaurus construction, associative relationships are often defined as strongly implied semantic connections that aren't captured within the equivalence or hierarchical relationships.

Figure 9-23. The associative relationship


There is the notion that associative relationships should be "strongly implied." For example, hammer RT nail. In practice, however, defining these relationships is a highly subjective process.

The ANSI/NISO thesaurus discusses many associative relationship subtypes. For example:

Relationship subtype Example
Field of Study and Object of StudyCardiology RT Heart
Process and its AgentTermite Control RT Pesticides
Concepts and their PropertiesPoisons RT Toxicity
Action and Product of ActionEating RT Indigestion
Concepts Linked by Causal DependenceCelebration RT New Year's Eve


In the world of e-commerce, the associative relationship provides an excellent vehicle for connecting customers to related products and services. Associative relationships allow what marketing folks call "cross-selling," allowing an e-commerce site, for example, to say "Hey, nice pants! They'd go great with this shirt." When done well, these associative relationships can both enhance the user experience and further the goals of the business.




Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites
ISBN: 0596527349
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 194

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