Domain analysis, an important part of thesaurus construction.

Abstract

Design and construction of index languages should be based on thorough knowledge and understanding of the environment of the information system and its users. This study investigates a mixed set of methods (group interviews and word association to collect data, content analysis and discourse analysis to analyze data) to evaluate whether these methods together collect the data required for user-oriented thesaurus construction. Based on a case study we find that the three studies together provide the needed domain knowledge to define the role of the thesaurus and design the content. The analysis also provided conceptual knowledge and prepared for the next step, collecting and analyzing concepts and tenns, thus saving resources in the construction process. In sum, the domain study made it possible to design a thesaurus reflecting the work environment and its users.