Regarding collection methods, the terms included in the Thesaurus can be divided into the following groups:

1. Terms already included in the previous indexing tools and subsequent updates:
   • Soggettario (1956)
   • BNI updates 1956-1985
   • BNI updates 1986-1998
   • BNI updates 1999-2005
2. Terms not included in the previous indexing tools and subsequent updates:
• terms used in the past by BNI and never registered
• other terms added to the BNCF catalogue
3. Completely new terms, terms added for semantic relationships, and terms deriving from splitting, all of which are employed in the current indexing and proposed by:
   • Italian National Bibliography (BNI)
   • cataloguing agencies and institutions that collaborate on the Nuovo soggettario

Terms that identify individual entities in the Thesaurus (see Guide § 2.2.2)

Among the terms collected through the methods described in paragraphs 1–3, names referring to individual entities are also included:

1. religious and civil holidays (e.g. Easter, Assumption Day, etc.)
2. wars, battles, and other historical events (e.g. the Battle of Waterloo)
3. sporting and cultural events, etc. (e.g. the Olympic Games)
4. categories of people belonging to sects and religious orders (e.g. the Amish, the Pentecostals, etc.)
5. names of celestial bodies (e.g. Galaxies, Stars, Planets, Constellations, etc.)
6. objects of specific brands and models (e.g. Tiger tanks)
7. names of wines (e.g. Chianti wine)
8. imaginary places (e.g., Cockaigne)

 

Structural model

Vocabulary structure (see Guide § 2.5)

The vocabulary is organised according to a classification structure in order to:

1. classify concepts and terms on the basis of their semantic relationships, thereby enhancing research and information retrieval
2. facilitate the structured development, management, and regular updating of terminological resources

Semantic relationships (see Guide § 2.4)

The semantic relationships among concepts and terms create a network that enables:

1. to visualise the complete set of concepts and terms that are semantically linked to each individual concept or term
2. to explore the structure of the vocabulary by navigating from an initially accessed term to all other related terms
3. to access the vocabulary using a term that, although excluded from indexing, serves as a helpful entry point for consultation
4. to browse through the structures of the controlled vocabulary by taking advantage of its inherent classificatory properties

Each concept/term has at least one semantic relationship in the Nuovo soggettario.

Equivalence relationship (see Guide § 2.4.1)

An equivalence relationship links two or more terms with the same meaning, but only one is preferred. It applies in the following cases:

1. between terms that are also considered synonyms in the natural language (synonymy)
2. between terms that have a slightly different meaning in the natural language but are considered synonyms for indexing (quasi-synonymy)
3. between a term with a very specific meaning and a term with a more general meaning
4. between a non-preferred compound term and the combination of two or more preferred terms representing the same concept

Hierarchical Relationships (see Guide § 2.4.2)

Hierarchical relationships are at the heart of the vocabulary. They connect two concepts within the same category, showing how broader concepts relate to more specific ones. There are three main types of these relationships:

1. generic relationship
2. whole-part relationship
3. instance relationship

Polyhierarchy (see Guide § 2.4.4)

The Nuovo soggettario mainly uses a single-hierarchy structure, but in some cases, it recognizes that concepts can belong to multiple categories and have more than one hierarchical relationship.

Associative relationship (see Guide § 2.4.3)

The associative relationship is less common than the other two. It connects two related concepts that are not linked by hierarchy or equivalence. This type of relationship usually links terms within the same category, but often connects terms from different categories. It works both ways to help with structure and navigation. È trattata come una relazione reciproca, soprattutto per motivi di struttura e di navigazione.

Method of construction of the vocabulary: anchor model (see Guide § 2.7.2.1)

The semantic network model, known as the anchor model, consists of the following elements:

1. the starting term
2. its broader terms, up to the top term (hierarchical relationships)
3. its related terms (associative relationships)

The hierarchical structure is expanded to the top term solely for the starting term, whereas related terms are systematically arranged once their complete hierarchical framework has been defined.

The anchor model is shown in the diagram below:

 

General aspects

The structure of the vocabulary is defined by macro-categories, categories, and facets.

They have two essential functions:

1. grouping language terms into smaller, more manageable units within the overall terminology
2. identifying the main classes that organise the vocabulary based on clear definitions

Macro-categories, categories, and facets have been adopted with the following definitions:

Macro-categories are the four main groups that organise the general classes (categories). They usually don’t match the top terms, except for the Time category.

Categories are general classes that group terms sharing common features. They usually correspond to the top terms and define the context for hierarchies.

Facets are subdivisions within a category, identified through facet analysis. They may appear as preferred terms or labels in the hierarchy and help clarify its structure. Facets can also include further subdivisions known as sub-facets.

Node labels are used to make the hierarchy clearer by showing how broader terms are divided.

Macro-categories and categories are the stable core of the Thesaurus, whereas facets and sub-facets develop and change as the terminology of the Thesaurus expands. (see Guide § 2.1.2.3.2)

Connections and overlaps between categories are managed through both hierarchical and associative relationships. (see Guide § 2.5.2)

Definitions

Agenti (see Guide § 2.5.2.1)
Concepts that represent agents who can act and have a will, either individually or as a group. This includes these categories:

• Organismi (see Guide § 2.5.2.1.1)
  Living creatures, their body parts, and animal groups (like flocks or herds), except humans, who are listed under Persone e gruppi.
• Organizzazioni (see Guide § 2.5.2.1.2)
  Organisations or their parts, meaning groups of people and resources arranged with rules to achieve a goal, whether economic, political, social, scientific, or other.
• Persone e gruppi (see Guide § 2.5.2.1.3)
  Groups of people without formal or temporary organisation, either social groups (e.g., communities, minorities, political groups, etc.) or groups based on traits (e.g., sex, age, profession, religion, etc.).

Azioni (see Guide § 2.5.2.2)
All concepts representing the typologies of actions. It includes the following categories:

• Attività (see Guide § 2.5.2.2.1)
  Actions with a direct and clearly identifiable agent.
• Discipline (see Guide § 2.5.2.2.2)
  Actions focused on research to develop and share knowledge, supported by organised structures (e.g., research centres, universities, scientific publications, etc.) that serve these types of activities.
• Processi (see Guide § 2.5.2.2.3)
  Actions caused not by one person or organisation, but by natural or social causes, or by groups and movements. Examples include biological processes (e.g., diseases) and social processes (e.g. cultural movements).

Cose (see Guide § 2.5.2.3)
All concepts related to physical things (e.g., matter, objects, and structures) and abstract things (e.g. tools and ways of communicating). It includes the following categories:

• Materia (see Guide § 2.5.2.3.1)
  Substances and materials based on structure, properties, and physical state (e.g., chemical elements, products).
• Oggetti (see Guide § 2.5.2.3.2)
  Movable things with a clear, fixed shape, even if very large.
• Strutture (see Guide § 2.5.2.3.3)
  Bodies that occupy a space in a stable manner, even if the occupation is temporary or if they can be removed once they are no longer useful.
• Strumenti (see Guide § 2.5.2.3.4)
  Entities, elements, situations, abstract tools, and tools whose object-related function is secondary (for example, "acts"), functioning as means to achieve a specific purpose.
• Forme (see Guide § 2.5.2.3.5)
  The visible form or expression of real or abstract entities, including creative works like literature and music, which may also involve documents.
• Spazio (see Guide § 2.5.2.3.6)
  Areas or places where objects or bodies are found, focusing on the space itself, not what is inside it.

Tempo (see Guide § 2.5.2.4)
It is at the same time macro-category, category and a top term.

• Tempo
  All concepts based only on time, like months and days; and those where time is important but combined with other aspects, like events (e.g., historical periods, anniversaries) or activities (e.g., political, artistic, or religious periods).

 

Notes provide extra information on terms and include:

Scope notes (see Guide § 2.3.1.1)

clarify or limit a term’s meaning and explain its use in the Thesaurus.

Definitions (see Guide § 2.3.1.2)

provide precise and authoritative meanings for technical or foreign terms. It should not be confused with the scope note, which may, however, include definitions.

History notes (see Guide § 2.3.1.3)

track changes in a term’s form, meaning, or type over time, including past uses in the Thesaurus and frequency of use in the BNI in case of a replaced term (historical variant). It can also indicate whether a term was previously part of a compound term.

Syntactic note (see Guide § 3.7)

It helps analyse the statement and apply general syntactic rules by giving specific instructions on how to use the term in subject strings.

 

More elements

DDC (see Guide § 2.3.3)

In the Thesaurus, some preferred terms with a full structure include an interdisciplinary number from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC21, DDC22, DDC23, WebDewey). Each term has only one classification number.

Reference sources (see Guide § 2.3.2)

Indexing vocabularies, repertoires, and classification systems used to create or verify the terms. You can find the full list of general and specialised sources on the Reference sources page.

Equivalents in other indexing tools (see Guide § 2.3.4)

Preferred terms in the Thesaurus include equivalent terms in other languages: German (from Gemeinsame Normdatei, GND), English (from Library of Congress Subject Headings, LCSH), French (from Répertoire d'autorité-matière encyclopédique et alphabétique unifié, RAMEAU)and Spanish (from Encabezamientos de Materia de la Biblioteca Nacional de España, EMBNE).


Bibliographic records, Archives and Museums Resources (see Guide § 2.3.5)

Bibliographic records

Links are activated between Thesaurus terms and bibliographic records in the catalogue of the National Library of the BNCF Pole and the SBN catalogue whose subject contains the same word as the Thesaurus term. The link also connects to the list of subject strings containing the term.

Archives and Museum Resources

Links connect Thesaurus terms and descriptions to various resources (archival documents, museum objects, etc.) in databases and/or online catalogues of archives and museums. These links are also used in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) context. Currently, the following links are active::

• Archivio Storico Ricordi
• Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali (ICCD)
• Gallerie degli Uffizi
• Historical archives of the European Union
• MIMO musical instruments museums online
• Museo egizio (Torino)
• Museo Fondazione scienza e tecnica
• Museo Galileo
• Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
• PerformArt Database
• SIUSA-Archivi di personalità

Suggestions on the term (see Guide § 2.3.6)

The envelope icon lets users send comments and suggestions about the term and its connections using a special form.

Administrative data (see Guide § 2.3.7)

Proposed by (see Guide § 2.3.7.1)

The organisation that suggested or used the term

Record status (see Guide § 2.3.7.2)

The current processing stage of the term, shown with abbreviations and symbols.