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KOS Metadata Users

In the case of the functional requirements for registries of terminologies (controlled vocabularies), three major types of users for KOS registries (also known as “terminology registries”) are identified:

  • a) KOS developers,
  • b) information retrieval system developers, and
  • c) end-users (including all other users).


KOS Metadata Use Cases

Needs of description and access

The AP must meet their specific needs of both description and access. In analyzing their general use tasks, we consider that:

  • The owner(s)/creator(s) of a KOS would want to publish, share, and allow reuse and mapping of their work. They register and publish their systems and thus expose the KOS product(s) to interested parties.

The role of a producer and a user may switch throughout the whole process. From a user’s (rather than a developer’s) point of view, the use cases can be summarized as the following:

  • Other KOS developers may be interested in an existing KOS for reuse or as examples of good practice. They may create derivative works based on an existing KOS.
  • Information retrieval system (IRS) developers may want to reuse, implement, and evaluate a KOS, as well as to apply a KOS to a collection to support searching and/or navigation.
  • End users and researchers may be involved in terminology-related research and exploration within a subject domain. They may want to evaluate, align, or compare KOS resources.


User Tasks

No matter what the end goals are, all users will need to find, identify, select, obtain, and explore KOS resources. Therefore, the appropriate metadata and its presentation need to support these tasks.

These needs and contexts can be directly interpreted using the FRBR user tasks (with FRSAD extension):

  • using the data to find a KOS that corresponds to the user's stated search criteria (e.g., in the context of a search for all KOS on a given subject, or a search for a KOS issued under a particular title);
  • using the data retrieved to identify a KOS (e.g., to confirm that the KOS described in a record corresponds to the document sought by the user, or to distinguish between two KOS products or two editions that have the same title);
  • using the data to select a KOS that is appropriate to the user's needs (e.g., to select a KOS in a particular language, or to choose a release of a KOS that is compatible with the hardware and operating system available to the user);
  • using the data in order to acquire or obtain access to the KOS described (e.g., to place a purchase order or to access online an electronic KOS product stored on a remote computer);
  • using the data to explore the different KOS that are available in a registry (e.g., get acquainted with the subject coverage of a KOS or discover available KOS in a specific domain).


NKOS AP Core Attributes in the context of user tasks

Updated 2013-05-12

NKOS AP Elements
Core elements Needed for: To support users to:
W   E   M   F I S O E
(work) (expression) Manefestation) (find) (identify) (select) (obtain) (explore) 
title x x x x x
identifier x x x x
contact  x x x
description x x x x x
type (of KOS) x x x x
creator x x x x x
language x x x x
publisher x x x
format x x x x
size* (of vocbulary) x x x
rights x x x x x x
date (created) x x x x x
date (updated) x x x
subject x x x x
relation* (to other) x x x x
sample* (a relation) x x
Additional elements
(Could be included in 'description')
services offered x x
used by (a relation) x x x
frequency of update x x
audience x x x x x
supplementary doc (a relation) x x x x