ILO Thesaurus: Labour, Employment and Training Terminology (5th edition)

Citation

James, S. (1999), "ILO Thesaurus: Labour, Employment and Training Terminology (5th edition)", Library Review, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 95-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.1999.48.2.95.11

Was life really simpler back in the days of the first edition of this thesaurus manual, a much smaller volume than this A4 212‐page third edition? In some ways it was quite the reverse as I recall struggling with the physical problems of compiling a thesaurus by manual means: paper and cards were lying all over the place and one needed a fairly prodigious memory, not to say a fool‐proof system, to keep track of what one was doing. Now it is all done automatically by the computer so that the manual and clerical tasks are extraordinarily easy compared with those far off days, although there is still need for both memory and application (or very detailed notes) to achieve and maintain consistency. The authors themselves point out the changes in the environment since the second edition, particularly with increases in the power and sophistication of search systems. Such developments have led to claims of the death of the thesaurus, but surely the opposite is true. Anybody who has tried to search a large scale full‐text free term system (never mind compile and maintain one) is likely to realise that thesaural techniques are more than ever required: normally they will be transparent to the user (but not always necessarily so), but they are certainly needed by the compiler.

If applications now offer more widespread and complex features, the basic principles remain unchanged. Even so, this is a very different work from the original edition, and in not just its size. Full‐text systems, new generation search engines, intelligent agents: all have to be taken into account. But, as the introduction stresses, they do not mark the end of the thesaurus, rather the reverse as the traditional methods of terminological guidance become ever more necessary in ever more applications. I have never liked the term “vocabulary control” as it suggests making the user linguistically fit into a system: that was never the function of any viable thesaurus, rather it was to guide the user into and through a retrieval system, but using the user’s own terms. In such cases, the applications for the thesaurus are as infinite as the databases which are likely to be established.

This new edition has been thoroughly revised: it is still based on the British Standard and the International Standard, but now taking account of the United States 1994 Standard as well as of new techniques. The chapter order has changed, some chapter titles are re‐worded, all are revised and some are radically re‐written. But this manual still offers sound basic principles and clear advice and instruction, if remodelled for our new age. It begins with chapters on the essential background and theoretical under‐pinning (purposes and use, planning and design, standards), then proceeds into the practical details of compilation (vocabulary control, specificity and compound terms, structure and relationships, auxiliary retrieval devices) and so to other necessary activities (display, multi‐lingual thesauri, construction techniques, thesaurus management and thesaurus reconciliation and integration). The manual is completed by a wide‐ranging and thorough bibliography.

This handbook remains a practical work that anyone creating a thesaurus must use, and certainly in its own terms is “an adequate guide to the competent compilation of most thesauri”, and beyond. It remains, quite simply, the one essential text for anybody involved in creating or maintaining retrieval systems, principally the practitioner, but also for theorists or students.

New thesauri are still being regularly produced (although only a small proportion are published outside their retrieval systems) and older ones are being kept up‐to‐date, the perennial problem of such tools. The International Labour Office’s thesaurus is an excellent example of keeping the work up‐to‐date, now in its fifth edition since its original publication in 1976. It is one of the classic examples of a multilingual thesaurus, so making it useful across a range of users, but also difficult to compile and relate accurately across four languages. The work now adds German to the English, French, and Spanish of the previous editions, but shows the complexity of doing the job as thoroughly and accurately as is achieved here, since the German version has been available in draft since 1989. Not only has a new language been added, but the whole work has been revised and many terms removed or replaced (this edition finally marks the end of the gold standard, but there is no sign of the Euro yet).

The International Labour Office covers an enormous range of interests, and this thesaurus reflects that range with its broad coverage of relevant and peripheral terminology. The construction and layout are exemplary, from a clear and very relevant preface and introductory matter, through alphabetical indexes, to the layout of the thesaurus itself. Indexes in each language refer to a term serial number: the thesaurus layout is in standard form with broader terms, narrower terms and related term references, and with notes where applicable (definitions, including legal ones of EU and EC terms). The major visual change with this edition is to a landscape format to accommodate the fourth language: this leads to a slightly bulky and more awkward volume than before, but was the only effective solution in the circumstances and provides a perfectly serviceable arrangement.

The result is a model of its kind which nicely complements a review of a standard manual on thesaurus construction, since it follows the standards precisely and shows their practical value. The ILO Thesaurus has a clear aim and purpose “… to serve as a tool for indexing and locating information housed in the ILO Library and other information services at ILO Headquarters and in the field.” It shows the true value of the thesaurus in general and of this one in particular, within a clear context where multi‐lingual vocabulary co‐ordination (which even has cross‐references between British and US spelling of English) is of enormous potential value to both indexer and user in numerous locations. Also, it elegantly describes the need for any thesaurus to be a dynamic, constantly changing tool: “information is not a tangible, manageable, easily packagable commodity. It is intrusive, pervasive, yet elusive, and above all quickly out‐of‐date. This edition of the thesaurus reflects only the state of the labour scene for a brief moment in time.” Perhaps a constantly changing online version is more suited to its purpose (and the new edition of the Aslib manual has that very much in view), but there is still a place for the printed volume also: not only for reasons within the ILO where an international body is dealing with many clients and users to whom IT is not necessarily available, but also to the rest of us as each edition stands as a landmark or signpost at certain stages in its development.