ISO 12620:2009

Terminology and other language and content resources — Specification of data categories and management of a Data Category Registry for language resources

ISO 12620:2009 provides guidelines concerning constraints related to the implementation of a Data Category Registry (DCR) applicable to all types of language resources, for example, terminological, lexicographical, corpus-based, machine translation, etc. It specifies mechanisms for creating, selecting and maintaining data categories, as well as an interchange format for representing them.

Terminologie et autres ressources langagières et ressources de contenu — Spécification de catégories de données et gestion d'un registre de catégories de données pour les ressources langagières

General Information

• Status: Withdrawn
• Publication Date: 09-Dec-2009
• Withdrawal Date: 09-Dec-2009
• ICS: 01.020 - Terminology (principles and coordination)
• ICS: 35.240.30 - IT applications in information, documentation and publishing
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 37/SC 3 - Management of terminology resources
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 37/SC 3/WG 1 - Data categories
• Current Stage: 9599 - Withdrawal of International Standard
• Completion Date: 19-Jan-2016

Relations

• Revised: ISO 12620:2019 - Management of terminology resources — Data category specifications
• Effective Date: 28-Nov-2015
• Revises: ISO 12620:1999 - Computer applications in terminology — Data categories
• Effective Date: 15-Apr-2008

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 12620
Second edition
2009-12-15

Terminology and other language and
content resources — Specification of
data categories and management of a
Data Category Registry for language
resources
Terminologie et autres ressources langagières et ressources de
contenu — Spécification de catégories de données et gestion d'un
registre de catégories de données pour les ressources langagières




Reference number
ISO 12620:2009(E)
©
ISO 2009

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ISO 12620:2009(E)
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction.v
1 Scope.1
2 Normative references.1
3 Terms and definitions .1
3.1 Data elements and data categories .1
3.2 Data Category Registry.3
3.3 Data category specification components .4
3.4 DCR management.5
3.5 Roles.6
3.6 Data exchange .6
4 Role of data categories in language resource management .7
4.1 Overview.7
4.2 Variety of Data Category Selections (DCSs).8
5 Requirements for the implementation of a DCR for language resources .9
6 Registration Authority for the ISO/TC 37 DCR .10
7 Representation of data categories used in language resources .11
7.1 Introduction.11
7.2 Global Information class.11
7.3 Data Category classes .13
7.4 Administration Information Section .14
7.5 Documenting data categories .17
7.6 Conceptual Domain classes.20
7.7 Linguistic Section classes.21
7.8 Referencing a data category .23
7.9 Data Category Interchange Format .23
8 Management procedures for the ISO/TC 37 DCR.24
8.1 General organization.24
8.2 Roles and responsibilities.25
8.3 Thematic domain groups.25
8.4 Working procedure.26
8.5 Data Category Registry Board (DCRB) .28
Annex A (normative) Compact DC Reference RELAX NG Schema.30
Annex B (informative) Example of a DCIF Representation.31
Annex C (normative) Compact DCIF RELAX NG Schema .33
Annex D (informative) Alphabetical listing of definitions .38
Bibliography.40

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ISO 12620:2009(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 12620 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Terminology and other language and content
resources, Subcommittee SC 3, Systems to manage terminology, knowledge and content.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 12620:1999), which has been technically
revised.
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
Introduction
Data associated with language resources are identified, collected, managed, and stored in a wide variety of
environments. Data items appearing in individual language resources are themselves referred to in this
International Standard as data categories, a designation commonly used in the environment of ISO Technical
Committee ISO/TC 37. Data categories as cited in ISO/TC 37 standards correspond to data element concepts
in the ISO/IEC 11179 series of standards, but differ slightly in terms of values defined. Differences in approach
among different kinds of language resources and individual system objectives inevitably lead to variations in
data category definitions and data category names. The use of uniform data category names and definitions
employed in resources within the same thematic domain (for example, among terminological resources,
lexicographic resources, annotated text corpora, etc.), at least at the interchange level, contributes to system
coherence and enhances the re-usability of data. Procedures for defining data categories in a given thematic
domain also need to be uniform in order to ensure interoperability among data categories, which becomes
problematic if they are defined in individual data category registries.
The creation of a single global Data Category Registry (DCR) for all types of language resources treated
within the ISO/TC 37 environment provides a unified view of the various applications of such a reference
resource. This universal registry is designed to facilitate a wide range of Data Category Selections (DCS)
needed in conjunction with all current or future standardization projects. ISO/TC 37 or any of its sub-
committees can resolve at any time to designate specific thematic domains to deal with the management of
those DCSs. The following thematic domains, among others, have been recognized as definable subsets of
the DCR for language resources:
⎯ “Terminology”: ISO 16642:2003 explicitly refers to a set of reference data categories for terminology
representation. Some of the data categories include general-purpose data management categories
1)
(for example, /source/ , /responsibility/, /date/, etc.) as well as linguistically oriented ones (for example,
/partOfSpeech/). Many of these data categories are relevant to a variety of different language resources,
not just to terminology management, and form the core of the DCR as described in this International
Standard;
⎯ “Semantic Content Representation” and “Lexical Resources”: the DCR serves as a reference for the
descriptors that are used throughout ISO/TC 37-related language resources, for instance, in terminology
management systems, at various levels of linguistic annotation (for example, morphosyntactic, syntactic,
and discourse levels), for lexical representation [natural language processing (NLP) lexicons, including
machine translation (MT) dictionaries, etc.], or for specific applications such as metadata for language
resources, query languages or multilingual data representation (for example, translation memories,
localization files, etc.);
⎯ “Language Codes”: ISO 639-1 and ISO 639-2 contain codes for approximately 650 languages. ISO 639-3
extends this number by an order of magnitude, with a clearer separation between the description of the
[1][2][3]
language and its coding proper . Including the reference set of language identifiers in the DCR in
response to the evolution of the ISO 639 family of standards provides an essential element of any
linguistic annotation or representation scheme.
⎯ “Lexicography”: the deployment of the DCR will include data categories for the description of
[4]
lexicographic data as cited in ISO 1951:2007 in order to ensure that the formats used for describing
lexicographical (SC 2), terminological (SC 3) and NLP-oriented (SC 4) data are comparable and
compatible.

1) Names that function as class names are capitalized. When a name functions as an attribute, it is represented in bold
face with the + convention: i.e. +administration record as opposed to Administration Record. This function is context-
dependent. Terminal values used with the data model appear in normal face bracketed by hyphens: -standardized name-.
Data category names are represented using the convention /source/. Data categories are themselves defined in the DCR,
not in this International Standard.
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
The DCR will eventually contain all ISO/TC 37 data categories, with their complete history, data category
descriptions, and attendant metadata. It is not, however, the intent of this International Standard to define an
ontology of language resources within ISO/TC 37. Nevertheless, the definition of the DCR has avoided any
choices that would hamper further work in this direction.
This document is intended to provide a background in the context of ISO/TC 37 on the various issues that
have to be considered in order to implement a global DCR that can be used for the full range of language
resources. More precisely, this document addresses the following issues:
⎯ the role of data categories for use with language resources;
⎯ requirements that have been identified with respect to information content and overall management;
⎯ a description of the organization of the DCR;
⎯ an interchange format for data categories, the DCIF (Data Category Interchange Format);
⎯ management procedures for the DCR.
Specific user-oriented instructions and procedures pertaining to the implementation and use of the DCR are
available on-line at http://www.isocat.org.

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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 12620:2009(E)

Terminology and other language and content resources —
Specification of data categories and management of a Data
Category Registry for language resources
1 Scope
This International Standard provides guidelines concerning constraints related to the implementation of a Data
Category Registry (DCR) applicable to all types of language resources, for example, terminological,
lexicographical, corpus-based, machine translation, etc. It specifies mechanisms for creating, selecting and
maintaining data categories, as well as an interchange format for representing them.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange — Representation of
dates and times
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 1: Framework
ISO/IEC 11179-3, Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 3: Registry metamodel and
basic attributes
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004 and the following
apply. Terms and definitions have evolved in the terminology community, represented here by citations from
ISO 1087-2, independently of the terminology of the metadata community, which results in slightly different
and at times overlapping concepts in the two communities of practice.
3.1 Data elements and data categories
3.1.1
data element
〈language resources〉 unit of data that, in a certain context, is considered indivisible
[ISO 1087-2:2000, 6.11]
NOTE In terminology work, an individual field, for example, /term/, in a single terminological entry has been viewed
as a data element and an instantiation of a data category (3.1.3).
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
3.1.2
data element
DE
〈metadata standards〉 unit of data for which the definition, identification, representation and value domain are
specified by means of a set of attributes
[ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, 3.3.8]
3.1.3
data category
DC
result of the specification of a given data field
[ISO 1087-2:2000, 6.14]
EXAMPLE /partOfSpeech/, /grammaticalGender/, /grammaticalNumber/; the values associated with these items
(for example, /noun/, /verb/, /feminine/, /plural/, etc.) are also data categories according to this International Standard, but
values of this type are not viewed as data element concepts (3.1.4) in the ISO/IEC 11179 family of standards.
NOTE 1 A data category is an elementary descriptor in a linguistic structure or an annotation scheme (3.1.15).
NOTE 2 A data category corresponds closely, but not identically, to a data element concept in ISO/IEC 11179.
NOTE 3 In running text, such as in this International Standard, data category (3.1.3) names are set off using forward
slashes and italics. In some implementations, camel case is used instead of using white space between words in the data
category name.
3.1.4
data element concept
concept for which the definition, identification and conceptual domain (3.1.5) are specified independently of
any particular representation
[ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, 3.3.9]
3.1.5
conceptual domain
set of valid value meanings
NOTE 1 Adapted from ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, 3.3.6.
NOTE 2 The value meanings in a conceptual domain may be enumerated, further specified by additional constraints or
expressed via a description. For instance, the data category (3.1.3) /term/ is described by its definition and thus
constrained from properly containing, for example, contextual information or grammatical information, but it would be
impossible to enumerate all values associated with this data category.
3.1.6
value domain
set of permissible values
[ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, 3.3.38]
3.1.7
complex data category
data category (3.1.3) that has a conceptual domain (3.1.5)
3.1.8
open data category
complex data category (3.1.7) whose conceptual domain (3.1.5) is not restricted to an enumerated set of
values
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
3.1.9
open conceptual domain
conceptual domain (3.1.5) associated with an open data category (3.1.8)
3.1.10
constrained data category
complex data category (3.1.7) whose conceptual domain (3.1.5) is non-enumerated, but is restricted to a
constraint specified in a schema-specific language or languages
3.1.11
constrained conceptual domain
conceptual domain (3.1.5) associated with a constrained data category (3.1.10)
3.1.12
simple data category
data category (3.1.3) with no conceptual domain (3.1.5)
3.1.13
closed data category
complex data category (3.1.7) whose conceptual domain (3.1.5) is restricted to a set of enumerated
simple data categories (3.1.12) making up its value domain (3.1.6)
3.1.14
closed conceptual domain
conceptual domain (3.1.5) associated with a closed data category (3.1.13)
3.1.15
annotation scheme
set of descriptors together with their syntax, semantics and condition of use, intended to provide descriptive or
interpretive information relevant to a language resource
[10]
NOTE TEI ODD (One Document Does it All) is an example of an annotation scheme.
3.2 Data Category Registry
3.2.1
Data Category Registry
DCR
set of data categories (3.1.3) to be used as a reference for the definition of linguistic annotation schemes
(3.1.15) or any other formats used in the area of language resources
3.2.2
data category specification
set of attributes used to fully describe a given data element concept (3.1.4)
NOTE The abbreviation “DCS” is associated with the Data Category Selection (3.2.3) and should not be confused
with the data category specification.
3.2.3
Data Category Selection
DCS
set of data categories (3.1.3) selected from the DCR (3.2.1)
NOTE 1 A DCS can represent the data categories used within a thematic domain (3.4.3) or a selection of data
categories used for a specific application or project. In the latter case, the DCS may draw data categories from more than
one thematic domain.
NOTE 2 A DCS can be expressed as a simple list of data categories, or it can be output in a form that contains the
entire content of their associated data category specifications (3.2.2), thus incorporating the full set of constraints
[11]
associated with the DCS. It can also be expressed using a schema notation such as W3C XML Schema or Relax
[12]
NG , which also comprises the list of data categories together with their associated constraints.
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
3.3 Data category specification components
3.3.1
DCR data model
logical representation of data structure and dependencies in the DCR (3.2.1)
[13]
NOTE 1 The DCR data model is represented as a UML class diagram .
NOTE 2 The definition above is based on ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, 3.2.7, where “data model” is defined as a “graphical
and/or lexical representation of data, specifying their properties, structure and inter-relationships”.
3.3.2
Global Information
GI
technical and administration information applying to the entire data collection
[ISO 16642:2003, definition 3.7]
EXAMPLE Title of the data collection, revision history.
3.3.3
administration information section
class in a data category specification (3.2.2) pertaining to the submission, registration, balloting and
approval of data category specifications submitted to and maintained in the DCR (3.2.1)
3.3.4
registration group
class associated with the administration information section (3.3.3) that provides information related to the
Registration Authority (RA) (3.4.2) responsible for the administered item
3.3.5
submission group
class associated with the administration information section (3.3.3) that provides information on persons or
groups responsible for submitting the administered item
3.3.6
decision group
class associated with the administration information section (3.3.3) that provides information on the review
and balloting process associated with the administered item
3.3.7
stewardship group
class associated with the administration information section (3.3.3) that provides information on the
individual or group responsible for the maintenance of the administered item
3.3.8
description section
class pertaining to the data category (3.1.3) name and the data element concept (3.1.4) documented in a
data category specification (3.2.2)
NOTE Definitions, explanations, and notes comprise some of the kinds of information included in the description
class of a data category specification.
3.3.9
data element name
class in a data category specification (3.2.2) that lists and categorizes permissible names that can be
associated with the data category (3.1.3)
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
3.3.10
language section
class in a data category specification (3.2.2) that provides working language (3.3.12) equivalents for data
category (3.1.3) names and other descriptive information included in a data category specification (3.2.2)
3.3.11
linguistic section
class in a data category specification (3.2.2) that constrains the conceptual domain (3.1.5) for a given
object language (3.3.13)
3.3.12
working language
language used to describe objects
[ISO 16642:2003, 3.21]
3.3.13
object language
language being described
[ISO 16642:2003, 3.10]
3.3.14
name section
class in the language section (3.3.10) that lists variant names for the data category (3.1.3) treated in a data
category specification (3.2.2)
NOTE Variant names can be equivalents in other languages or names that may be used in the same language but in
related disciplines or working environments.
3.4 DCR management
3.4.1
Data Category Registry Board
DCR Board
DCRB
group of experts (3.5.3) designated by the participating (P) members of the Technical Committee whose duty
it is to ensure that the scope and the coherence of the Data Category Registry (3.2.1) are maintained
NOTE The DCRB has the status of a Validation Team (VT) according to Annex ST of the ISO Supplement to the
[9]
ISO/IEC Directives.
3.4.2
Registration Authority
RA
organization authorized to register data items and/or other information objects and to maintain them in a
repository
NOTE Typically these kinds of information objects can comprise codes, such as the language codes defined in the
ISO 639 family of standards, data categories, and other public identifiers. Registration Authorities are governed by
International Standards, but the repositories themselves are not generally included in published standards.
3.4.3
thematic domain
class of applications identified by the similarity of the data structures they need to manipulate
EXAMPLES Terminology, lexicography, morphosyntactic annotation.
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
3.4.4
thematic domain group
TDG
group of experts (3.5.3) in charge of selecting and maintaining the data categories (3.1.3) that are relevant
for a thematic domain (3.4.3)
NOTE Thematic domain groups have the status of the Maintenance Team (MT) according to Annex ST of the
[9]
ISO Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives.
3.4.5
thematic domain profile
profile
representation within a data category specification (3.2.2) of the thematic domain (3.4.3) with which a data
category (3.1.3) is associated
NOTE A data category may have several thematic domain profiles, indicating that it is used by several thematic
domains. Until a data category specification is assigned to a TDG, the profile value is set to -private-.
3.5 Roles
3.5.1
chair of the Data Category Registry Board
chair of the DCR Board
chair of the DCRB
individual appointed by the ISO/TC 37 plenary who has the responsibility of administering the work of the
DCRB (3.4.1)
3.5.2
chair of a thematic domain group
TDG chair
individual appointed by the ISO/TC 37 sub-committee associated with a TDG (3.4.4) who has the
responsibility for administering the work of the TDG
3.5.3
expert
individual with special knowledge, skill, or other interest who registers to participate in the work of the DCR
(3.2.1)
3.5.4
judge
expert appointed by the chair of a thematic domain group (3.5.2) to participate in the approval process for
any given data category specification (3.2.2) or Data Category Selection (3.2.3) submitted for
standardization
3.6 Data exchange
3.6.1
Data Category Interchange Format
DCIF
export format for data categories (3.1.3) grouped as a Data Category Selection (3.2.3) designed to facilitate
their usability in external applications
3.6.2
snapshot
capture of the status of a data resource at a given moment in time
NOTE Data resources are frequently archived in the form of snapshots, which can then be identified as versions of
the resource.
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ISO 12620:2009(E)
3.6.3
persistent identifier
PID
unique Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that ensures permanent access for a digital object by providing
access to it independently of its physical location or current ownership
4 Role of data categories in language resource management
4.1 Overview
Data category specifications identify the individual information units making up a data collection or annotation
scheme for a given language resource. A data category specification provides the formal representation of a
data category, which shall comprise the specific attributes that document it (for example, the data category
name, definition, examples, comments, etc.). It shall also provide the context for its creation and management
within the DCR. Groups of data categories subsetted from the global set making up the DCR comprise Data
Category Selections (DCS). As specified in ISO 16642, Terminological Markup Framework (TMF), a DCS
shall define, in combination with a data model, the various constraints that apply to given thematic-domain or
application-specific information structures or interchange formats.
Figure 1 shows possible uses for a DCS. Depending on the application involved, such a DCS may be merely
a list of data categories that points back to the complete specifications in the DCR, or it can be represented by
a complete subset or even superset of the DCR, comprised of such a list plus the definitions and const
...