Updated - ISO 25964 Standard on Information and documentation — Thesauri and interoperability with other vocabularies

This presentation was originally given in Sao Paolo, Brazil in August, 2026. This updated presentation was presented to ISKO London on October 28, 2026. Support for search and tagging using controlled vocabularies has been the main focus of the ISO 25964 standard, Thesauri and Interoperability with other Vocabularies, but this support has recently been complicated by the rise of ChatGPT and Generative AI. The changes in the information access and distribution as well as the usage options expansion with recent applications in daily life automation clearly impact the expanded use cases. Updating the standard to the situation we face today and expect to face in the next 5 years has prompted a massive rewriting of the standard to bring it in line with today’s needs. Specifically, as the convener, she will cover the actions of the Working Group for ISO/TC 46/SC 9/WG 8 Information and documentation, during the revision of ISO 25964 (Thesauri and Interoperability with other knowledge organization systems). ISO 25964 Part 1: Thesauri for Information Retrieval, creation, management, and use, which just completed its two years revision and released recently. Then move on to on-going revision of Part 2: Interoperability with other vocabularies which covers interoperability between different thesauri and with other types of knowledge organization systems (KOS).

1. ISO 25964-1 working group ISO/TC 46/SC 9/WG 8 Information and documentation — Thesauri and interoperability with other vocabularies — Part 1: Thesauri for information retrieval, creation, management, and use Part 2 Interoperability with other vocabularies Presented by Marjorie Hlava, Convenor
2. Who is Marjorie Hlava? • Chief Scientist, Founder, Access Innovations, Inc. – software and services company – Albuquerque New Mexico USA • Standards background • Dublin Core (SDC) 1984 ISO 15836, ANSI/NISO Z39.85 • Thesaurus Standard (SDC) NISO Z39.19 • BISG ONIX – BISAC (Model) • Indexing Standard (SDC) NISO Z39.14 • DOI Syntax (SDC) NISO Z39.84 / ISO 26324 • Credit Standard (secretariat / Model) NISO Z39.102 • Crossref Contributed Metadata Set (NFAIS model WG) • Standards Specific Ontology Standard SSOS (secretariat / Model) NISO Z39.103 • Etc.
3. The Standards Hierarchy • ISO – International Standards Organization • Technical Committees (TC 46 = Information and documentation • Subcommittees (SC 9 = Identification and description of information resources • Working Groups (WG 8 is ISO 25964 -1 & 2) • We are TC 46 / SC 9 / WG 8 • National Standards Bodies contribute • Money • Experts – must be approved to join the SDC • Their own standards for international recognition • Once a standard is adopted by ISO the National Standards Body may no longer distribute it • The BSI standards were adopted as the basis for ISO 25964 • NISO still distributes Z39.19 for free
4. The Standards Progression ISO 25964 - Part 1 is in FDIS ISO 25964 - Part 2 is in ?? CD • Proposal Stage: A new work item proposal (NP) is submitted to evaluate market need and vote on project approval. • Preparatory Stage: A working group of technical experts drafts a working document (WD). • Committee Stage: The committee reviews and refines the draft until they reach a consensus, creating a committee draft (CD). • Enquiry Stage: The draft (DIS) is circulated to all ISO national member bodies for a formal 12-week voting and comment period. • Approval Stage: A final draft (FDIS) is sent out for a final 8-week approval vote if technical changes occurred during the enquiry phase. • Publication Stage: The text is finalized and published by ISO as an official International Standard.
5. What does the convenor do? • Leadership • Build the working group • Set group meetings • Guide the discussion so all voices are heard • Appoint subcommittees – support expert discussions • Lead the project development • Manage and edit the draft • Guiding the group • Attempt to achieve consensus • Work to resolve conflicting views • Steer group agreement • Resolve conflicts prior to voting • Voting must be unanimous unless Fast Tracked
6. Why Is The ISO 25964 Important For Data? • Before building Knowledge Graphs, Ontologies, AI systems, etc. you need vocabulary control and well tagged data. • Create, manage, and connect /link thesauri (controlled vocabularies) • Ensures consistent indexing and accurate retrieval • Find same terms for same concepts cross varying databases and web apps • Organizes digital content for CMA and DAM • Provides semantic rules and structure to build • Knowledge Graphs, Ontologies, Web Navigation, etc. • Disambiguate subjects • Hierarchy and Related terms give blueprint for Knowledge Graphs
7. Why Is The ISO 25964 Important For AI? • Clean data for models prevents guesses • AI agents use the structured domain logic • Less Computer intensive than vectors and full text • Reduce hallucinations • Hierarchies guide RAG for facts instead of probability • Makes AI outputs more traceable and explainable than Neuro-Symbolic AI • Supports seamless data exchange • Formats allow direct plug ins to AI Platforms
8. History • Sputnik – 1957 – space race and cold war… • Information overload – need to organize and retrieve • Using thesauri for information retrieval • COSATI pioneering work in the 1960s – 1967 thesaurus TEST • By 1974 the “principles and practical guidance for constructing thesauri” • Also 1974 ISO 2788 and ANSI/NISO Z39.19 • Built on BS 8723 (British Standard) • Structured vocabularies for information retrieval – Guide • Published 2005-2008 • Replaced • ISO 2788-1986 Guidelines for the establishment and development of monolingual thesauri • ISO 5964-1985 Guidelines for the establishment and development of multilingual thesauri
9. From ISO 2788 to ISO 25964: The Evolution of Thesaurus Standards towards Interoperability and Data Modeling - Stella G. Dextre Clarke & Marcia Lei Zeng - 2012
10. Update of Landmark Thesaurus Standards in the English Language 1974 ISO 2788 for monolingual thesauri 1964 COSATI Council on Scientific & Technical Information 1970 1980 1974 ANSI / NISO Z39.19 for thesauri 1967 Thesaurus of Engineering and Scientific and Terms TEST 1986 ISO 2788 2nd edition 1987 BS 5723 = ISO 2788 1985 BS 6723 = ISO 5964:1985 1957 Sputnik 1960 1985 ISO 5964 for multilingual thesauri 2011 ISO 25964-1 for Mono and multilingual thesauri 2013 ISO 25964-2 for interoperability 2026 ISO FDIS 25964-1 for 2027 ISO Mono and 25964-2 for multilingual Interoperability thesauri 2008 BS 8723 for structured vocabularies 1990 1993 ANSI / NISO Z39.19 3rd Ed for monolingual thesauri 39.19 for thesauri 2000 2010 2005 ANSI / NISO Z39.19 4th Ed for controlled vocabularies 2010 ANSI / NISO Z39.19 5th Ed for controlled vocabularies 2005 W3C SKOS Core Vocabulary Specification 2009 W3C SKOS & SKOS-XL Recommendation 2020 (2012-12-13)Alignment between SKOS and new ISO 25964 thesaurus standard Update of the chart from ISO 2788 to ISO 25964: The Evolution of Thesaurus Standards towards Interoperability and Data Modeling - Stella G. Dextre Clarke & Marcia Lei Zeng – 2012. Update by Marjorie Hlava 2026 2030 ISO NISO BSI W3C
11. Overview – ISO 25964 • Last Published in 2011 – Part 1 • Clauses 1 – 14 – Definitions, Historical • Clause 15 – Data Model • Clause 16 – Integrations • Clause 17 – Exchange formats • Clause 18 – Protocols • 2 Annexes with sample thesauri • ISO 25964 – Part 2 Interoperability – all new in 2011 ... • Merges Mono and Multilingual to a single work • Concentrates on development and maintenance • (Does not include on how to use in indexing) • Extensive Models and ties to SKOS and UML
12. Outside Interest • The digital world has changed • Thesauri and taxonomies are used broadly • Not just for search and retrieval anymore • Now the world has changed again. • Little use of paper indexes • Online is declining • Interconnected information resources • Ontologies – Trough of disillusionment • Tried Knowledge Graphs to fill the void? • ChatGPT? Claude? Google Gemini? Etc.? • Generative AI? • LLM • Conversational Search
13. Expanded Use Cases • Long term • Moved from Paper indexes – A&I • Software based tools • Search expansion • Tagging / indexing for retrieval • Alt term suggestions • Support of clustering and other ontological options • Shopping carts • Web navigation • Collection organization • Decision trees • Profiles - members, authors, organizations • Recent • Semantic fingerprints • Knowledge Graphs • Human intelligence bases • Search query triples • Conference track sorting • Peer Review keywords • New • Chatbots • Artificial Intelligence • Generative AI • RAG and MCP • Interoperability
14. Gathering Additional Information For The Standard Update • Reaching out to the potential user communities • Taxonomy Division of SLA • Taxonomy Book Camp – KM World • List Servs for taxonomy groups • Taxodiary Blog • Software developers • Known authors in the field • Previous members of the committee • NISO, ASIS&T, SLA NKOS Members • World wide connections • Created a working plan for the update • 150+ responded • Many with comments • Bring them before the committee • A few roadblocks – not an open process • Reading literature for other thoughts • Looking at other ISO terminologies, taxonomies, and thesauri • Some from the SKOS community • Etc.
15. Committee Members • Formal admission process – takes a while • Must be part of an ISO/TC46/SC9 member country • One of those is NISO for the US experts • Ponderous (Thanks for Betsy Fanning) • NO outside or Advisory Committee allowed • May NOT share the draft outside of the committee • Marjorie M.K. Hlava, Convenor • Appointed by ISO • Betsy Fanning and Keondra Bailey – staff support • Working group members Bailey, Keondra Blinco, Kerry Blumauer, Andreas Busch, Joseph Carpenter , Todd Chandru, Sheeba Clark, Dave Drage, Anna Ermert, Axel Fanning, Betsy Gillikin, David Harpring, Patricia Hedden, Heather Hlava, Margie Lamorte, Michele Liu, Hua Lykke, Marianne McCoy, Amy Moscara, Elisabeth Scheven, Esther Schutte, Deon Du Preez Tennis, Joseph T Tudhope, Douglas Yancey, Trish Zeng, Marcia
16. Many Significant Contributions – Part 1 • Definitions updates – more than half our time • Table 2 • Added Persian (Maliheh Dorkhosh), Russian and Polish (Heather Hedden) • Significantly extended German (HH), Chinese (Marcia Zeng) • Examples reworked, updated, extended (Patricia Harpring) • Data Model updated (David Gillikin, Doug Tudhope) • SKOS section reworked (HH and DT) • References updated (Kerry Blinco, Marcia Zeng, and Doug Tudhope) • Standards reference section (Kerry Blinco) • GUID URL section added (Dave Clarke)
17. Convene committee Fall of 2023 152 people replied with comments and thoughts Many rules for membership – stumbling blocks Acquire and get current standard edition to committee Brainstorming sessions Washington, DC Nov 5, 2023 – 52 signed up (Taxonomy Boot Camp) Wuhan, China, March 30, 2024ISKO NKOS Workshop Comments began October 2023 Distributed first annotated edition February 2024 Monthly, biweekly, then weekly meetings First draft completed in June 2024 178 pages of comments resolved sent for FDIS voting 3 months – Approved ISO Editing Round 2 ISO Editing and Resolutions Round 3 Part 1 Timeline 3 full years to complete But only 6 months to write
18. Other Connected Standards • ISO terminologies • Over 50!! of them • We added a list • Intend to form crosswalks • ISO 25964 is hosted by NISO • NISO Z39.19 • BSI • DIN • SKOS – W3C • OWL • SKOS – Thes Namespace built for OWL now hosted by DCMI* • Learned of more daily * https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/skos-thes/
19. Decisions Made • Significantly expanded definitions section • “Concept” and term labels • Cross walks to TC 37 in process of being established, examples: • ISO 704 – Terminology work - Principles and methods • ISO 1087 – Terminology work and terminology science • ISO 30042 becoming 24634 – Management of terminology resources TBX • Include more use cases and more language examples • Nearly every sentence was touched • Table two expanded to 15 languages • 4 character sets represented
20. Big Changes • Definitions updated and enlarged – 82 total • Examples updated and modernized • Preferred / Non-Preferred labels • Concept labels vs term labels • Clauses 14 – 18 reworked or moved to Annexes • Added the Zthes Specifications • Updated UML Model • Term ID – UID, URL, GUID • Table 2 extensions – now 15 languages • Massive rework of the reference section • Redlined every single sentence (or nearly)!
21. Table 2 – Label translations
22. UML Model – Clause 15
23. SKOS Impact ISO 25964-1 – how to build and manage a vocabulary • The data models for both “standards” are concept-based • ISO 25964 model provides for all features of a thesaurus • • SKOS – how to publish a vocabulary in a machineprocessable format • SKOS model aims to serve several different vocabulary types • It does not provide for some thesaurus features • Easy to convert – but does not have all features
24. 2026 Version Comparisons WAS • Clauses 1 – 14 Definitions, Historical • Clause 15 – Data Model • Clause 16 – Integrations • Clause 17 – Exchange formats • Clause 18 – Protocols • 2 Annexes with sample thesauri • ISO 25964 – Part 2 Interoperability – Written in 2011 NOW • Clauses 1 – 14 Definitions, methodologies, and guidelines • Clause 15 – Data Model • Clause 15.4 – Integrations • Clause 15.5 – Exchange formats • Clause 15.6 – Protocols • 3 Annexes with sample thesauri • Extensive Bibliography • including 50+ related standards • Index updated • 174 pages
25. Part 2 – Interoperability With Other Vocabularies • Group formation in progress • Carry over from Part 1 • Much overlap: • Some leaving, some new • Ensure it can stand alone • More countries • Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Netherlands, South Africa, UK (England, Wales, Scotland), USA … • 25 people • Doug Tudhope is being approved as Offical Editor • More are welcome! – contact me if you want to join Bailey, Keondra Blinco, Kerry Dorkhosh, Maliheh Busch, Joseph Carpenter , Todd Chandru, Sheeba Clark, Dave Drage, Anna Ermert, Axel Fanning, Betsy Gillikin, David Harpring, Patricia Hedden, Heather Hlava, Margie Lamorte, Michele Liu, Hua Lykke, Marianne Lima, Vânia Moscara, Elisabeth Scheven, Esther Schutte, Deon Du Preez Tennis, Joseph T Tudhope, Douglas Usdin, B. Tommie Zeng, Marcia
26. Scope of the Update • “minimum of rewriting and attempt to keep the scope within it’s current bounds.” • Many things are happening • “AI” in all its variations • Helping keep AI within guardrails • SKOS changes and dominance
27. Main Work Items – 1 - 2 Definitions and Reviews 1. Update the Term Definitions • 28 definitions will carry over from previous Part 2 for review • 89 Definitions total • 60 overlap Part 1 • 60 from Part 1 will replace current (old) definitions • Abbreviations etc. • Retain Part 2, Table 1 is only about mapping and does not appear in Part 1 2. Reviewing all clauses to ensure: • References to Part 1 are current • They reflect current professional thinking
28. Main Work Items – 3 & 4 – Clause reviews 3. Review clauses to continue standardizing the language • "term" vs " concept" • "preferred term” usage is appropriate 4. Update Terminology Clause • Latest versions of ISO 704, 1087, and 30042 TBX • Ensure those mentions are still valid • Check references to 25964-1 and update • Remove Part 2 Annex A • Its highly detailed comparison of the 25964 data model to the superseded TBX • Add new references to ISO 704 in revised Part 1 Definitions section • New higher-level discussion in the Part 2 Terminology Clause is sufficient
29. Main Work Items – 5 – Automated Mapping 5. Automated Mapping Clause 14.2 and 12.2 • This is a fast evolving field implementers • Should be alert to new techniques for automated tools that may emerge (mentioning AI) • Cross reference Part 1 – Annex A • Watch active current projects throughout the life of the working group • Eurovoc, Finto, Cocoda • Guidelines and standard • not review of implementations • out of scope
30. Main Work Items – 6 – Clause 16 – Mappings • Add an overview of SKOS • New section on mapping metadata • Explain why there is a need for providing basic metadata on mappings sets • W3C is working on a Schema? • Watch its progress – connect a crosswalk • RDA FAIR Mappings Working Group • Ontology and schema ETL data transforms = mappings • Out of scope for Part 2 • Other more general FAIR data modelling work
31. Other considerations • RDA FAIR Mapping project which is very ambitious but perhaps not yet finished enough to reference • https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/fair-mappings-wg/activity/ • The FINTO - Finish Mapping experience as a model • https://blogs.helsinki.fi/natlibfi-bulletin/?page_id=286 • Compound mappings are not addressed in SKOS • Update references and URLs • Ensure all cross references are up to date • Update the index
32. Status • Part 1 – FDIS 2026 • Voted • Approved Oct 2, 2026 !!!! • with comments • Now in publishing and final editing cycle • Part 2 – • Council has voted to approve the work item • Returned to ISO August 5 after convenor editing • …. HK0
33. Slide 32 HK0 Year? Heather Kotula, 2026-08-03T21:43:01.183
34. The Bureaucracy hits and we move forward • We thought • Committee draft vote was next • BUT • Needed to be approved and registered as a work item and group under SC9 • ISO changed the procedures, rules and administrative tools!! • Uploaded the 2011 version to the new system OSD • Asked that we replace by paragraph and image the committee draft we submitted. • It is a LOT of work to upload by every single change • Hoping to work in redline • Then upload final draft one time to OSD • Asked for permission via derogation request • 50:50 chance of approval
35. Next Steps • Options • We can petition to skip Committee draft stage and go to DIS • We can convene as Working Group and discuss • We can continue to refine the draft • Next reconvene committee for additional discussion of our draft • Create a final draft • Upload to system • ISO Voting cycle begins • Hope for approval in 2027 • Must complete by 2029
36. The ISO Outline of the process
37. Want to add your voice? • To join us • Get on your National Standards list and • Ask them to appoint you to this group • We could use your help and perspective. • We are NOT allowed to discuss / share unless you are approved by your national standards body and ISO! • Contact us and we will help you get approved. • Or talk with a committee member to share your concerns and views.
38. Questions? Contact Me for the Slides Thank you for your attention Marjorie M.K. Hlava Chief Scientist Access Innovations, Inc. mhlava@accessinn.com