ISO/DTS 24634

Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange (TBX)-compliant representation of concept relations and subject fields

This document provides requirements and recommendations for representing subject fields and concept relations in TBX-compliant terminological document instances. Examples in this document utilize the DCA style of TBX markup.

Gestion des ressources terminologiques — Représentation des relations conceptuelles et des domaines conforme à TermBase eXchange (TBX)

Upravljanje terminoloških virov - Predstavitev konceptualnih razmerij in predmetnih področij, skladna s TermBase eXchange (TBX)

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• 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 - Management of terminology resources
• Current Stage: 5020 - FDIS ballot initiated: 2 months. Proof sent to secretariat
• Start Date: 08-Aug-2024
• Completion Date: 08-Aug-2024
• Ref Project: oSIST-TS ISO/DTS 24634:2024 - Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange (TBX)-compliant representation of concept relations and subject fields

Relations

• Revises: ISO/TS 24634:2021 - Management of terminology resources — TBX-compliant representation of concept relations and subject fields
• Effective Date: 24-Jun-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

FINAL DRAFT
Technical
Specification
ISO/TC 37/SC 3
Management of terminology
Secretariat: DIN
resources — TermBase eXchange
Voting begins on:
(TBX)-compliant representation of
2024-08-08
concept relations and subject fields
Voting terminates on:
2024-10-03
Gestion des ressources terminologiques — Représentation des
relations conceptuelles et des domaines conforme à TermBase
eXchange (TBX)
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT,
WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION OF ANY
RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE
AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING DOCUMENTATION.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO­
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES, DRAFT
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE
TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL
TO BECOME STAN DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE
MADE IN NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
Reference number
FINAL DRAFT
Technical
Specification
ISO/TC 37/SC 3
Management of terminology
Secretariat: DIN
resources — TermBase eXchange
Voting begins on:
(TBX)-compliant representation of
concept relations and subject fields
Voting terminates on:
Gestion des ressources terminologiques — Représentation des
relations conceptuelles et des domaines conforme à TermBase
eXchange (TBX)
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT,
WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION OF ANY
RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE
AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING DOCUMENTATION.
© ISO 2024
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO­
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES, DRAFT
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
TO BECOME STAN DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE
MADE IN NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland Reference number
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Subject fields . 3
4.1 General .3
4.2 Specifying the name of the subject-field classification .3
4.3 Defining the scope of subject-field values .4
4.4 Hierarchy of subject fields .5
4.5 Representing subject-field values in concept entries .6
4.5.1 General .6
4.5.2 Referencing the backmatter .7
4.5.3 Expressing the position of the subject-field value in each entry .7
4.6 Using a publicly available subject-field classification .7
5 Representing subject-field classifications in the backmatter . 8
6 Concept relations . 9
6.1 Typology of concept relations .9
6.2 Implementation of concept relations .9
6.2.1 General .9
6.2.2 TBX markup for concept relations within the concept entry .10
6.2.3 TBX markup for concept relations outside the concept entry .10
Annex A (informative) Typology of associative relations .12
Annex B (informative) Markup samples for concept relations in the element . 14
Annex C (informative) Markup samples of concept relations in the backmatter .16
Bibliography .18

iii
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.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent
rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a)
patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Language and terminology, Subcommittee
SC 3, Management of terminology resources.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/TS 24634:2021), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— addition of TBX markup for concept relations outside the concept entry in 6.2.3;
— typology of associative relations in Table A.1 aligned with ISO 704:2022, Annex A;
— addition of markup samples of concept relations in the backmatter in Annex C.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

iv
Introduction
This document describes best practices for specifying subject fields and concept relations in termbases.
It also demonstrates how to represent subject fields and concept relations in terminological document
instances in a way that is compliant with ISO 30042.
Concept relations for specific TBX dialects are specified in the form of dedicated TBX modules. Subject fields
can be declared in the TBX backmatter or implemented through an extensible markup language (XML)
namespace. This document is intended to maximize interoperability of these types of information.
Throughout this document, reference is made to data categories (DCs). To maximize interoperability,
it is essential that termbases use the same DCs, as described in this document, for the same purposes.
[3]
DatCatInfo is a publicly available electronic repository of DC specifications. DCs used in the examples in
[3]
this document are taken from DatCatInfo .
This document complements ISO 30042.

v
FINAL DRAFT Technical Specification ISO/DTS 24634:2024(en)
Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange
(TBX)-compliant representation of concept relations and
subject fields
1 Scope
This document specifies requirements and recommendations for representing subject fields and concept
relations in TBX-compliant terminological document instances. Examples in this document utilize the data
category as attribute (DCA) style of TBX markup.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements 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 1087, Terminology work and terminology science — Vocabulary
ISO 12620-1, Management of terminology resources — Data categories — Part 1: Specifications
ISO 12620-2, Management of terminology resources — Data categories — Part 2: Repositories
ISO 30042, Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange (TBX)
W3C, RDF Resource Description Framework, W3C Recommendation 25 February 2014, Available at: https://
www .w3 .org/ RDF/
W3C, SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Reference, W3C Recommendation 18 August 2009.
Available at: https:// www .w3 .org/ TR/ skos -reference/
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 1087, ISO 12620-1, ISO 12620-2,
ISO 30042 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
concept relation
relation between concepts
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.11]
3.2
hierarchical relation
hierarchical concept relation
generic relation (3.3) or partitive relation (3.4)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.12]

3.3
generic relation
generic concept relation
genus-species relation
concept relation (3.1) between a generic concept and a specific concept where the intension of the specific
concept includes the intension of the generic concept plus at least one additional delimiting characteristic
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.13, modified — Example and notes to entry deleted.]
3.4
partitive relation
partitive concept relation
part-whole relation
part-of relation
concept relation (3.1) between a comprehensive concept and a partitive concept
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.14, modified — Example deleted.]
3.5
associative relation
associative concept relation
pragmatic relation
non-hierarchical concept relation (3.1)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.23, modified — Example deleted.]
3.6
concept entry
terminological entry
part of a terminological data collection (3.12) which contains the terminological data related to one concept
[SOURCE: ISO 30042:2019, 3.5, modified — Admitted term “entry” deleted.]
3.7
data category
DC
class
...

ISO/TC 37/SC 3
Date:  2024-06-21
Secretariat: DIN
Date: 2024-07-24
Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange (TBX-
)-compliant representation of concept relations and subject fields
Gestion des ressources terminologiques — Représentation des relations conceptuelles et des domaines conforme
à TermBase eXchange (TBX)
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication
may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO
at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: + 41 22 749 01 11
E-mail: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
Contents
Foreword . iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Subject fields . 3
4.1 General . 3
4.2 Specifying the name of the subject-field classification. 3
4.3 Defining the scope of subject-field values . 4
4.4 Hierarchy of subject fields . 5
4.5 Representing subject-field values in concept entries . 6
4.5.1 General . 6
4.5.2 Referencing the backmatter . 7
4.5.3 Expressing the position of the subject-field value in each entry . 7
4.6 Using a publicly available subject-field classification . 7
5 Representing subject-field classifications in the backmatter . 8
6 Concept relations . 9
6.1 Typology of concept relations . 9
6.2 Implementation of concept relations . 10
6.2.1 General . 10
6.2.2 TBX markup for concept relations within the concept entry . 10
6.2.3 TBX markup for concept relations outside the concept entry . 10
Annex A (informative) Typology of associative relations . 12
Annex B (informative) Markup samples for concept relations in the element . 14
Annex C (informative) Markup samples of concept relations in the backmatter . 17
Bibliography . 19

iii
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.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of
ISO documentsdocument should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules
of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights
in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s)
which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not
represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Language and terminology, Subcommittee
SC 3, Management of terminology resources.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/TS 24634:2021), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— Additionaddition of TBX markup for concept relations outside the concept entry in 6.2.3(6.2.3);
— Typologytypology of associative concept relations in Table A.1 aligned with ISO 704:2022 (, Annex A);
— Markupaddition of markup samples of concept relations in the backmatter in Annex C(Annex C).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
iv
Introduction
This document describes best practices for specifying subject fields and concept relations in terminology
databases (termbases). It also demonstrates how to represent subject fields and concept relations in
terminological document instances in a way that is compliant with ISO 30042.
Concept relations for specific TBX dialects are specified in the form of dedicated TBX modules. Subject fields
can be declared in the TBX backmatter or implemented through an extensible markup language (XML)
namespace. This document is intended to maximize interoperability of these types of information.
Throughout this document, reference is made to data categories (DCs). To maximize interoperability, it is
essential that termbases use the same DCs, as described in this document, for the same purposes.
[3[2]]
DatCatInfo is a publicly available electronic repository of data categoryDC specifications. Data
[3[2] ]
categoriesDCs used in the examples in this document are taken from DatCatInfo . .
This document complements ISO 30042.
v
Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange (TBX-)-
compliant representation of concept relations and subject fields
1 Scope
This document providesspecifies requirements and recommendations for representing subject fields and
concept relations in TBX-compliant terminological document instances. Examples in this document utilize the
data category as attribute (DCA) style (Data Category as Attribute) of TBX markup.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements 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 1087, Terminology work and terminology science — Vocabulary
ISO 12620-1, Management of terminology resources — Data categories — Part 1: Specifications
ISO 12620-2, Management of terminology resources — Data categories — Part 2: Repositories
ISO 30042, Management of terminology resources — TermBase eXchange (TBX)
W3C, RDF Resource Description Framework, W3C Recommendation 25 February 2014, Available at:
https://www.w3.org/RDF/
W3C, SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Reference, W3C Recommendation 18 August 2009.
Available at: https://www.w3.org/TR/skos-reference/
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 1087, ISO 12620-1, ISO 12620-2,
ISO 30042 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
concept relation
relation between concepts
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.11]
3.2
hierarchical relation
hierarchical concept relation
generic relation (3.3) or partitive relation (3.4)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.12]

3.3
generic relation
generic concept relation
genus-species relation
concept relation (3.1) between a generic concept and a specific concept where the intension of the specific
concept includes the intension of the generic concept plus at least one additional delimiting characteristic
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.13, modified — Example and Notesnotes to entry omitteddeleted.]
3.4
partitive relation
partitive concept relation
part-whole relation
part-of relation
concept relation (3.1) between a comprehensive concept and a partitive concept
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.14, modified — Example omitteddeleted.]
3.5
associative relation
associative concept relation
pragmatic relation
non-hierarchical concept relation (3.1)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.23, modified — Example omitteddeleted.]
3.6
concept entry
terminological entry
part of a terminological data collection (3.12) which contains the terminological data related to one concept
[SOURCE: ISO 30042:2019, 3.5, modified — Admitted term “entry” omitteddeleted.]
3.7
data category
DC
class of data items that are closely related from a formal or semantic point of view
EXAMPLE /part of speech/, /subject field/, /definition/.
Note 1 to entry: A data category can be viewed as a generalization of the notion of a field in a database.
Note 2 to entry: In running text, such as in this document, data categories are enclosed in forward slashes (e.g. /part of
speech/).
[SOURCE: ISO 30042:2019, 3.8, modified – The admitted—Abbreviated term “DC” has been added.]
3.8
picklist
list of permissible values of a closed data category (3.7)
3.9
subject field
domain
field of special knowledge
[SOURCE: ISO 10241-1:2011, 3.3.1, modified — “subject field” isreplaced “domain” as the preferred term, and.
Notes to entry omitteddeleted.]
3.10
subject-field classification
logical structure of the subject fields (3.9) and subfields dealt with in a terminological data collection (3.12)
3.11
termbase
terminology database
database comprising a terminological data collection (3.12)
[SOURCE: ISO 30042:2019, 3.28]
3.12
terminological data collection
resource consisting of concept entries (3.6) with associated metadata and documentary information
EXAMPLE A TBX document instance.
[SOURCE: ISO 30042:2019, 3.29, modified — AdmittedAbbreviated term “TDC” omitted, and example
“ISO 1087” omitteddeleted.]
4 Subject fields
4.1 General
Terminology databases (termbases),Termbases, particularly large ones, should be organized according to
subject fields. In this case, there may be a /subject field/ data category at the concept level (this is implemented
as a element).
A picklist shall be used as the content model for subject fields. If the organization in question has a taxonomy
that reflects its field of activity, the subject-field classification should reflect that taxonomy. Subject-field
classifications can be declared in the backmatter of a TBX document instance, or through an XML namespace.
In this document, the backmatter approach is described. The XML namespace approach requires a data
category as tag (DCT) style of TBX markup and can be modelled in parallel to the backmatter method.
A given TBX document instance can use more than one subject-field classification.
4.2 Specifying the name of the subject-field classification
The name of the subject-field classification used in a T
...