Transportation Research Thesaurus (TRT)
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Items of Interest |
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The Transportation Research Thesaurus is a hierarchical, faceted
collection of concepts that logically arranges in accordance with their
relationships to one another. This taxonomical approach puts like
intellectual content together. By selecting the most appropriate concept
in the intellectual order the work is identified with related works. The
TRT is used by indexers, content managers and librarians in the
transportation community and is an internationally recognized standard.
Scope
The Transportation Research Thesaurus (TRT) covers all subjects
related to the following transportation modes:
- Air
- Land
- Water
- Space
- Ground (more in-depth coverage)
It also includes formal names of organizations, persons, computer
programs, places, etc, however, these concepts are no longer being
updated
Structure
Each term in the TRT is assigned a unique notational code that
conveys its location within the hierarchy. The first letter of the
notation represents the facet or top term. Using the notational code it
is easy to determine the terms relation in the hierarchy. The term's
parent (Ae) will have one less letter (from the right end) as the term
(Aea). Siblings (Aeg, Aes) will have the same notational code as the
term except the last letter will be different. Children (Aeac, Aeah)
will have one letter appended to the end of the notational code of the
term.
Figure 1: Example of the TRT Structure
The full display shows relationship of terms including SN (Scope
Notes), UF (used for terms), BT (Broader Term), NT (Narrower Term), RT
(Related Term), NN (Notational Code), and CT (Cross Reference Term).
Management
The National Transportation Library assumed responsibility for
the TRT for the transportation information community in October 2007.
Before that time, NTL was an active user and supporter. In its new role
as manager of the TRT, NTL has established new procedures for change and
review.
History
The Transportation Research Thesaurus (TRT) was developed under
NCHRP Project 20-32 to provide a tool to improve the indexing and
retrieval of transportation information. The thesaurus covers all modes
and aspects of transportation. These terms are used in the indexing of
the Transportation Research Board's
database the Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) and its
web accessible version TRIS Online by the National
Transportation Library, as well as other transportation libraries.
The TRT was designed and developed by CDB Enterprises, Inc., of
Silver Spring, MD, under contract to the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program, administered by the Transportation Research Board,
National Research Council, with sponsorship by the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in cooperation with the
Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
Originally, the Transportation Research Board maintained the
Transportation Research Thesaurus. Online access to the Transportation
Research Thesaurus was hosted by the National Transportation Library
under a cooperative agreement between the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics and Transportation Research Board. In October 2007, the
National Transportation Library has assumed content and access
responsibility with technical assistance from the TRB
Library and Information Science in Transportation Committee TRT
Subcommittee.
For further information on the development of Transportation
Research Thesaurus see NCHRP Report 450 - Transportation Research
Thesaurus and User Guide available through the TRB Electronic Bookstore
(link http://trb.org/bookstore/).
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