Which terms should be preferred as target terms
- Concepts that allow concluding potential properties from intensional ones.
- Concepts that confine many potential properties (“behavior”) that can only apply to a particular intension.
Take into account that each refinement of intension may confine or guarantee another set of potential properties.
- Concepts that enable an “open world”. Forming broader categories based on the intensional properties, enables potential properties (“behavior”) that does not divide the world into disjoint classes.
Take into account that:- Through generalizing a concept into a broader category it can be ensured that this concept possesses more general intensional (and potential) properties, possibly together with other concepts under that category.
- All items (terms, classes) which are not included in a broader category are not characterized by the intensional properties of that category.
Which terms should be avoided as target terms
- Concepts defined by potential relationships since they are, to a great degree, incidental. Not only they do not reveal the essential properties of a term, but also no further independent properties can be derived.
- Concepts defined by the criteria of particular context of use, context of interest, spatiotemporal contexts are not suitable for indexing.
Take into account that particulars (gazetteers, person lists) are NOT terminologies (but other KOS) - Concepts defined by negation (antonymity, complements): In an open world “having not a property” does not imply anything.
- Concepts that are selected according to the criterion of the affinity of the meaning (content of the terms).
