Paul McCoy of ProQuest talks about life there before and after implementing the taxonomy management software from Synaptica.

1. Finding a Common Language:
Bringing Complex and Disparate
Vocabularies Together
Paula R. McCoy
Manager, Taxonomy Development
ProQuest
paula.mccoy@proquest.com

2. Part of Cambridge Information Group & CSA
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Editorial offices in Louisville, Kentucky

3. Access to over 125 billion digital pages of content from
magazine, trade, & scholarly publications, current &
historical newspapers, original materials such as annual
reports & civil war pamphlets, and daily wire feeds
Subscription-based ProQuest® online information
service available in academic and public libraries

4. Louisville editors abstract & index 4,000+
periodicals & newspapers
ProQuest Controlled Vocabulary used to index
subjects; Authority Files used to index
company, geographic, personal, product names
CV applied to non-periodical & third-party
content via mapping, to allow cross-searching
of multiple DBs with one vocabulary

5. Topics of Discussion
Description of ProQuest Controlled
Vocabulary & Authority Files
Taxonomy Management -- Overview
Life Before Synaptica
Thesaurus Management System Purchase
Implementing Synaptica
Life With Synaptica
Q&A

6. PQ CV
ProQuest Controlled Vocabulary
Natural language, hierarchical vocabulary complying
with ANSI/NISO Standard Z39.19 (Guidelines for
the Construction, Format, and Management of
Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies)
Created in 1970s for ABI/INFORM business database
Based on Library of Congress Subject Headings

7. PQ CV
ProQuest Controlled Vocabulary
Merged with general reference vocabulary in 1980s
Major development effort in past 4 years to boost
science, education & medical terms
Thesaurus subjects:
Business, economics & trade – 4300 terms
Science, math & technology – 1600 terms
Medicine – 1150 terms
Humanities – 960 terms
Government & policy – 850 terms
Education – 400 terms

8. PQ CV
ProQuest CV: Statistics
Preferred terms: 11,046
Non-preferred terms: 5631
Scope Notes: 3194 (29%)
Cross-references (Broader,
Narrower, Related terms): 67,700
Terms added in 2007: 77
Terms added in 2008: 58+

9. PQ CV
Authority Files: Statistics
Corporate/Organization Names: 438,098
Names added in 2008: 5489
Personal Names: 416,239
Names added in 2008: 1526
Geographic (Location) Names: 34,331
Names added in 2008: 144
Product Names: 38,210
Names added in 2008: 54

10. Taxonomy Management
The Taxonomy Manager’s Job
Add subject terms as dictated by new
concepts & new content to index
Maintain hierarchies & Scope Notes
Load updated Thesaurus to ProQuest interface
Manage authority files to maintain standards
& control file size

11. Taxonomy Management
The Taxonomy Manager’s Job
OBJECTIVE:
To ensure that indexers and searchers alike have access to a
complete and accurate Thesaurus that they can use to
maximize the discoverability of documents in ProQuest

12. Taxonomy Management
Thesaurus on ProQuest®

13. Taxonomy Management
Sample Subject Term
Preferred, or main term
Scope note defining term
and how it is used
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
SN: Any lung disease, such as chronic bronchitis or
emphysema, causing obstruction of bronchial airflow Non-preferred term: points
UF COPD to term used to index
BT Disease Terms broader in nature to
BT Respiratory diseases main term: COPD is a
NT Asthma disease, and specifically, a
NT Bronchitis respiratory disease
NT Emphysema
Terms narrower in nature
RT Airway management to main term: these are
RT Lungs chronic lung diseases
Terms related to main term
that might be used to
narrow the search

14. Before Synaptica
Managing terms meant:
Multiple files  Duplicate entries  Errors
= less than ideal thesaurus management

15. Before Synaptica
MS Word Document

16. Before Synaptica
Vocabulary Documents in Word
ProQuest controlled vocabulary
French-language controlled vocabulary
German-language controlled vocabulary
Spanish-language controlled vocabulary
Combined PQ-CBCA controlled vocabulary
Ethnic database vocabulary, English
Ethnic database vocabulary, Spanish

17. Before Synaptica
Foreign-Language Vocabularies
French German Spanish

18. Before Synaptica
Oracle Database Forms

19. Before Synaptica
Authority Files in Oracle
Class codes (related to subjects)
CORP names (391,665+ terms)
NAIC codes (related to companies)
GEOG names (32,000+ terms)
PERS names (350,000+ terms)
PROD names (38,000+ terms)

20. Before Synaptica
Adding New Terms
1. Enter full term hierarchy into new Word doc
2. Copy term into main Word-based vocabulary &
enter reciprocal relationships
3. Enter term & relationships into Oracle
4. Review next-day report on Oracle activity
5. Send new term doc to editors via e-mail
6. Print new vocabulary (at least every two years)

21. SN
BT
Class Code
[whew!]
UF NT
RT

22. TMS Purchase
Thesaurus Management Systems
Buying Criteria
Synaptica
Up to 40 admin & 100 in real time within multiple locations
1. Ability to interact read-only users editorial system
Ability to load vocabs from multiple Word docs & Oracle
authority filesaccommodate authority files of 400,000+
2. Ability to
names
Support for foreign-language vocabularies
Ability to add new vocabularies
Vendor onsite installation & training
Software upgrades & tech support

23. Implementing Synaptica
Implementing Synaptica
Contract signed and work begun in August 2004
PQ sent to Synaptica all the Word & Oracle files for
analysis
Decision points: how to load & structure data;
how to handle “suspect” or erroneous
relationships

24. Implementing Synaptica
Synaptica Data Analysis
Relationship Validation Tests:
Term Uniqueness
Use Violations
Self-Referencing Relationships
One Relationship per Term Pair
Relationship Unique
Relationship Reciprocates
Circular References
Exception Reports delivered to PQ; Errors fixed before production

25. Implementing Synaptica
Use Validation Error
Marine resources

26. Implementing Synaptica
Foreign-Language Errors
Terms with no language equivalent (LEQ), e.g., no translation
In all 3 languages, multiple English terms with the same
translation, e.g.:
English term French term French term-revised
Purchasing Achats
Shopping Achats Shopping
Buyers Acheteurs
Purchasing agents Acheteurs Agents d'achat

27. Implementing Synaptica
Final Challenge
Issue: Different editorial systems = 2x data
entry: once for Synaptica, once for Oracle
Solution: Overnight synchronization process to copy
Synaptica work into Oracle every night
Synch process discontinued April 2008

28. Implementing Synaptica
Putting Synaptica Into Production
Nov 2004
Train users — provide documentation & hands-on
demonstrative training
Deal with people resistant to change
Encourage written feedback on system functionality
Send feedback to Synaptica – many of our suggestions
implemented in later versions

29. Life With Synaptica
Life With Synaptica
Terms Management Made Easy!
Word – Old, Bad  Synaptica – New, Good 

30. Life With Synaptica
Adding Terms Today: 3 Easy Steps
1. Enter term and relationships into Synaptica
“Item Details” window
2. Export report of new terms into Word
3. Send Word document to editors

31. Life With Synaptica
Improving Thesaurus Management
Categories Feature

32. Life With Synaptica
Subject Term Categories

33. Life With Synaptica
CORP Names – Categories & Website

34. Life With Synaptica
Foreign-Language Vocabularies
Language
Equivalents

35. Life With Synaptica
Foreign-Language Vocabularies

36. Life With Synaptica
Foreign-Language Vocabularies
Spanish
Spanish
Alphabetical
by language
German French

37. Life With Synaptica
Synaptica Updates
Synaptica version 6.0 released in early 2006
Synaptica version 7.0 is being implemented now:
• Enhanced user interface
• Semantic Web standardization (RDF, OWL, SKOS) and
Web Services integration
• Expanded Reporting functionality
• Enhanced adding and editing of term relationships
including “rapid-fire” simple drag-and-drop editing
• Improved global term editing
• Online help and user guides

38. Life With Synaptica
Benefits of Synaptica
Greater awareness of thesaurus standards and
terminology, e.g.: “preferred” and “non-preferred”
instead of Use and Used For
Long-needed updating and improvement in term
hierarchies; ability to provide thesaurus statistics
Increase in Company name NPTs — from 1935 to
8952 today
Immediate responsiveness to indexer needs —
real-time term additions, esp. NPTs and SNs
Easier loading of updated Thesaurus on PQ interface

39. Questions?
thank you!