Keyword authority file

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The key word authority file ( SWD ) is a controlled key word system (authority file ), which was mainly used for subject indexing in libraries . The SWD was administered by the German National Library (DNB) in cooperation with various library networks. The inclusion of keywords in the SWD is specified in the rules for the keyword catalog (RSWK). Comparable systems in other languages ​​are the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and the Répertoire d'autorité-matière encyclopédique et alphabétique unifié (RAMEAU).

At the end of April 2012, the SWD was incorporated into the Common Authority File (GND).

scope

In mid-2003, the SWD contained around 600,000 descriptors and around 700,000 non- preferred terms ( synonymous and quasi- synonymous terms as well as synonymous keyword chains with references to a descriptor). The growth rate was around 5.5% per year. About three quarters of the descriptors relate to individual terms (language names , persons, corporations, titles, ethnographics ...) and a quarter to abstract terms . The connection by means of hierarchical (around 115,000) and associative relations (around 26,000) is not very close, which is why the SWD cannot be referred to as a thesaurus .

The SWD terms are also classified in a separate classification with almost 500 classes in 36 main groups.

structure

The individual terms are classified in a system and also contain references to sources, related terms, preferred terms and, to a lesser extent, hierarchical links. However, due to the low degree of linkage, the SWD is not a complete thesaurus. The SWD was available online until the end of April 2012 as part of the ILTIS catalog database and for a fee as BIBLIODATA together with the personal name file (PND) and the common corporation file (GKD) on the authority data CD-ROM and the authority file TITAN.

In both cases, the user interface of the SWD could be improved. Instead of making the SWD accessible as a user-friendly navigation tool, it was trusted that users are familiar with the SWD and its system and that they bring the appropriate catchphrase in the correct form before research. It was not possible to navigate in the system or through references from one term to another using hyperlinks. The strategy of the German National Library to sell authority records commercially also made it difficult to continue using the SWD, e.g. B. in other systems of terms.

There is a separate MAB format for the exchange of authority records. The network headquarters of the Southwest German Library Network (SWB) offered online access (OSWD), which has been used for the GND (OGND) since May 2012.

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