Abstract 1. the Problem 2. Proposed Solution Layers of Meaning: Disentangling Subject Access Interoperability

Tennis 67 Washington, DC, November 4,2001 In order to facilitate subject access interoperability a mechanism must be built that allows the different controlled vocabularies to communicate meaning, relationships, and levels of extension and intension so that different user groups using different controlled vocabularies could access multiple collections in a networked environment. However, this is not a simple solution, nor a simple mechanism to build. Controlled vocabulary compatibility and conversion have been attempted from the advent of discipline specific thesauri (Dahlberg, 1996b; Dahlberg, 1996c), and work is still being done on issues of compatibility (Doerr, 2001). The past and present work on compatibility research strongly influences subject access interoperability, but varies from it through the control of variables such as meaning, relationships, and levels of extension and intension. Compatibility methods use a single layer to create a translation between participant Joseph T. Tennis Information School University of Washington Mary Gates Hall Box 352840 Seattle, WA 98195-2840 [email protected] LAYERS OF MEANING: DISENTANGLING SUBJECT ACCESS INTEROPERABILITY