Interoperable Subject Retrieval in a Distributed Multi-Scheme Environment: New Developments in the HILT Project

Abstract

The recent developments in the HIgh-Level Thesaurus (HILT) subject retrieval interoperability project (http://hilt.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/) are reviewed. HILT is funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the United Kingdom (UK) to examine how to facilitate the interoperability of subject descriptions in a distributed, cross-service retrieval environment where different services use different subject and classification schemes to describe content, making crosssearching by subject difficult. HILT Phase I determined that there was a community consensus in the UK in favour of using inter-scheme mapping to achieve interoperability between services using different schemes, an approach followed by several recent projects. HILT Phase II chose a spine-based approach to mapping and chose the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) as the central scheme to which all other schemes would be mapped. It also built an illustrative pilot mapping service, based on an adaptation of the Wordmap terminology-handling software and made a range of recommendations on issues requiring further research and ongoing development requirements. The third phase aims at creating an M2M version of the HILT Phase II Pilot based on SRWand SKOS-Core with extended facilities. It is proposed that the project should develop two M2M clients: one for users of Go Geo! at EDINA, and one for the HILT interface itself, and a distributed version of the service remains an attractive option.