ABSTRACT

This entry presents an overview of the standards for different types of knowledge organization system (KOS). Their development history and the principles within them are described. Standards for thesauri receive most attention, since other types of KOS are less standardized. The arrival of the Internet, enabling simultaneous access to multiple disparate systems and resources, caused a major reorientation of standardization efforts in the last decade, towards interoperability goals. Current initiatives address two main needs: interoperability between KOSs, and data exchange between one vocabulary application and another. The prospects for bringing the standards together are discussed.