Interfaces to knowledge organization systems in Canadian digital library collections

The paper reports on a study of the ways in which Canadian digital library collections make use of knowledge organization systems to support users’ information search behaviour. The study identified 33 digital collections which have employed some type of knowledge organization system in their search interfaces. Résumé : Cet article présente les résultats d’une étude sur la manière dont les systèmes d’organisation des connaissances sont utilisés par les collections des bibliothèques numériques canadiennes, afin d’assister le comportement de recherche informationnelle des utilisateurs. Cette étude a identifiée 33 collections numériques qui ont employé certains types de systèmes d’organisation des connaissances dans leurs interfaces de recherche. Introduction The term ‘Knowledge Organization Systems’ (KOS) refers to a broad range of schemes for organizing information and facilitating resource description and discovery. Knowledge organization systems include general classification schemes, special classification systems, thesauri, subject headings, taxonomies, ontologies, gazetteers and other types of standardized controlled vocabularies. Recent technological developments associated with the Internet and the World Wide Web have revitalized interest in the application of KOS in promoting knowledge management and information retrieval on the web. A review of the websites of the Government of Canada, Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries, and Canada’s Digital Collections indicates that academic and governmental organizations have made use of different types of KOS systems. However, there is little research on what KOS systems have been used by Canadian academic and governmental institutions on the web and how they have provided search, browse and navigation facilities based on KOS systems. The overarching objective of the research was to evaluate the types of KOS systems and tools that have been utilized in governmental and academic digital collections in Canada. More specific objectives of the project were: • To identify academic and governmental digital library collections on the web that have made use of KOSs • To determine the types of KOS systems in use • To examine the extent to which academic and governmental organizations have provided search, browse and navigation facilities based on KOSs