Computer-Assisted Generation of Vocabulary Control Tools and Their Application to Databases in Urban Planning
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Date
1993-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis discusses and presents the different methods
of computer assisted generation of vocabulary control
tools, particularly thesaurus and it variations, as well
as their application in designing and developing
databases and user interfaces to support urban planning
activities. The various features and attributes of online
databases and search services are examined with a
view to assessing their relevance to the information
needs of specialized institutions, such as the National
Urban Planning Institute (NUPI). The need for local
databases to provide the type of information needed for
specialized local/ sectoral institutions and the role of
vocabulary control tools in facilitating the design and
development of such databases is discussed. The various
types of information needed for preparing urban plans,
their sources, and the need for an effective information
support systems are discussed. Different types of
vocabulary control tools, their structure and display,
and procedures for designing and developing them are
mentioned. Also discussed are the features of selected
softwares and programs useful in the design, development
and maintenance of thesauri. Particular attention is
given to CDS/ISIS Pascal thesaurus programs (Thes, Mthes,
Thesl and Thes2) used in the current work. A classaurus
for the field of urban planning has been developed using
Mthes pascal program. The terms were collected from
specialized documents in urban planning and queries
collected from potential end-users of the system at NUPI.
The classaurus was used to update the OECD Macrothesaurus
t o enhance its utility in the urban planning field.
Direct thesaurus generation, with the assistance of
computer, from texts and their abstracts without using a
language parser is demonstrated. This method of thesaurus
generation is found to be effective and time saving.
Prototype urban planning databases made up of reference
and specialized object-oriented databases (OODBs) have
been developed. The integration of the databases was made
with the help of ABNCD+ database structure. The
integrated database allows search in the different
records of the database with a single query. Two user
interface facilities are provided: (1) A thesaurus-like
search facility to facilitate browsing and navigating
through the subject areas into which the records in the
OODB have been divided. They can also be applied to the
reference records with modifications and editing of the
search expressions provided by Mthes. pas; and (2) A
structured query worksheet based on the structured
divisions of urban planning information. In this context,
vocabulary control tools have more potential applications
than their usual applications; for example, in database
design, user interface, etc. Advances in information
technology and development of different thesaurus
software have renewed the interest in the application of
vocabulary control tools, particularly thesaurus and its
variations. This study also presents examples of
t hesaurus generation, retrieval of records from the
integrated database, the use of the user interface
facility, the applications of queries to the data bases
and flexible outputs from the OODB.
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Keywords
Computer-Assisted Generation of Vocabulary Control Tools