European Thesaurus on International Relations and Area Studies A multilingual terminological tool on international affairs Axel Huckstorf Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik – German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 20102

Purpose of the Euro Thesaurus Terminological tool for indexing and information retrieval in the field of international relations and area studies To foster cooperation and divison of labour between related European research institutions through the harmonisation of controlled vocabularies Terminological reference work / translation tool 3

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Statistics 8,250 descriptors (each language) Numerous non-descriptors (numbers vary for each linguistic version) High number of compound/multiword terms and pre-combined phrases 24 thematic chapters (fields) with further differentiation (field-groups and sub- groups) 4

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Multilinguality English = primary language Target languages: Croatian, Czech, French, (Greek), German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish Symmetrical thesaurus, i.e. one equivalent descriptor in every target language for each descriptor from the source language 5

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Print version Published in September languages (Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish) Vol. 1: Seven-lingual systematic part Vol. 2/3: Monolingual alphabetical parts (incl. selection of relevant non-descriptors) 6

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Online version Access via web portal IREON Gateway (International RElations and Area Studies ONline)IREON Gateway 9 languages (Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish) Greek version in translation Full semantic relationships 7

Descriptor display (online version) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Background of European Thesaurus project Foundation of European Information Network on International Relations and Area Studies (EINIRAS) in 1992 EINIRAS Database Network (EDN) EINIRAS Task Group on Standardization of Documentational Tools Euro Thesaurus 9

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Source thesauri Thesaurus of German Specialized Network on International Relations and Area Studies (8,500 descriptors) Royal Institute of International Affairs Library Thesaurus (3,000) CERES Thesaurus - Council of Europe (2,100) Thesaurus de lIFRI (1,500) SIPRI Thesaurus (700) 10

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Usage Currently used for indexing and retrieval in bibliographic/factual databases by: German Specialized Information Network International Relations and Area Studies (FIV) 12 German research institutes Institute of International Relations (IIR), Prague Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), Warsaw 11

Collaborative database: World Affairs OnlineWorld Affairs Online Circa 900,000 bibliographic records Searchable on IREON portal and via various hosts (EDN, Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog, ViFaPol, GBV Common Library Network, GENIOS)EDNKarlsruher Virtueller Katalog ViFaPolGBV Common Library Network GENIOS Usage German FIV network (1) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Euro Thesaurus primary indexing tool Further controlled vocabulary: Classifications (geographical/subject) Free subject terms, proper names (institutions, agreements, conferences, projects, geographical names, etc.) Euro Thesaurus also used for factual documentation (e.g. international treaties) Usage German FIV network (2) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Sample document FIV Database Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Sample document IREON portal Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Usage IIR (Prague) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference IIR Library catalogue Euro Thesaurus primary indexing tool Additional controlled vocabulary (in Czech) Circa 65,500 bibliographic records (books, journals, articles, studies, papers)

Sample document IIR Database (1) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Sample document IIR Database (2) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Euro Thesaurus primary indexing tool Additional controlled vocabulary (mostly proper names) Two databases: Books/Journals (circa 49,000 records) Books/Journals Articles (circa 54,000 records) Articles Usage PISM (Warsaw) Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Sample document PISM Database Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Maintenance European Thesaurus Development Group (ETDG) 7 members - coming from institutions that apply the Euro Thesaurus (FIV, IIR, PISM) Annual meetings of ETDG in Berlin descriptors discussed per meeting Term database for project work Thesaurus Wiki in preparation 21

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Initiatives Cross-concordances have been established with four related controlled terminologies: PAIS Subject Headings Standard Thesaurus Economics (STW) Thesaurus for Economic and Social Development (TWSE) Thesaurus for Social Sciences (TheSoz) 22

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Summary Euro Thesaurus project successful because: Contributed to overcome Cold War terminological divide in international affairs Unique multilingual controlled vocabulary (with regard to coverage as well as linguistic variety) High potential for international cooperation between related academic institutions concerning information organisation and retrieval in the field of international relations and area studies 23

Euro Thesaurus - EuroVoc Conference 2010 Thank you very much! 24