Introduction to Knowledge Organization Systems

Not familiar with knowledge organisation? It provides the foundation for searching and retrieving arts and humanities information objects across digital collections and cultural heritage information systems. This course will give you introductory knowledge about knowledge organisation systems and professional subject indexing, social tagging as another approach to knowledge organisation, and automatic subject indexing as the third approach to knowledge organisation.

Starting from the case studies analysed in the course, you will be able to transfer the knowledge obtained to any digital humanities context anywhere in the world.

#Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, learners should be able to:

• understand the key principles behind knowledge organisation systems in the context of cultural heritage and digital humanities research;
• understand the pros and cons of professional, collaborative (non-professional) and automatic subject indexing in this context;
• understand the role of the search interface in subject access;
• develop knowledge organisation skill sets;
• identify the most appropriate knowledge organisation system and type of subject indexing, or any combination thereof, for a given challenge in the humanities/heritage context;
• identify which search interface functionalities need to be implemented for optimal subject access;
• apply appropriate knowledge organisation approaches to help tackle global challenges from a humanities/heritage perspective;
• develop strategies for implementing a good combination of knowledge organisation approaches and systems, including subject access functionalities at the level of the interface.