Importing a subject taxonomy - BC Thesaurus

[A C]

I'd like to import this longer-form BC thesaurus, but I can only find it as a PDF (https://aabc.ca/media/5406/bcthesaurus.pdf) I can't find any XML or SKOS files floating around out there.

I did note that SFU has the short BC Thesaurus (30 terms or so). Anyway, my questions are:

1) Has anyone else imported this thesaurus to AtoM, and can they point me to a file that I can use?

2) If not, are there ways to convert PDFs to a usable file type for import?

We have AtoM 2.3.

Thanks!

[Dan Gillean]

Hi there,

The link you provided was broken, but did you mean the MemoryBC Subject Headings? https://aabc.ca/media/5412/MemoryBC_subject_groups.pdf

If so, then the terms are of course in use in the MemoryBC portal site, found here:

• https://www.memorybc.ca/subjects

You'll note a couple things about this list - first, that there are only 30 subjects total. So if the PDF link you tried to share had more, it's possible the list was later revised. This means that SFU has the full list.

One advantage of contacting SFU over the AABC Archival Network Services Coordinator (in charge of maintaining MemoryBC) is that in SFU's case, all the terms have a single parent term, so they can be exported from there:

• http://atom.archives.sfu.ca/index.php/bc-thesaurus

In MemoryBC, the subject terms are all siblings within the Subjects taxonomy - and currently in AtoM, there is no way to export all terms in a taxonomy - you need a parent term to export a hierarchy. I would suggest reaching out to SFU to see if they are willing to export the terms for you.

I don't personally know of any tools that would help you extract unstructured PDF text and convert it into usable SKOS XML....

Cheers,

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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[Dan Gillean]

Hi again,

Oops! I almost forgot, the export options are right there on the page - no need to contact SFU! Here is a direct link to the SKOS file:

• http://atom.archives.sfu.ca/index.php/bc-thesaurus;skos

Right click and save to get a local XML version you can then import into your AtoM instance.

Cheers,

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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[Dan Gillean]

Apologies for the barrages of emails, but I eventually found the document you originally linked  -  if I follow the link, the AABC website fails to find it... but using the search on the AABC website, I did find the original document you tried to share (your link is correct, but I had to go through the search results to get it to open - https://aabc.ca/search/?search=thesaurus - first result). This is likely because information about it has been deleted from the AABC website, but the PDF upload has not been removed and so can still be found via site-wide searching.

In any case, I did spend some time working as the Network Services Coordinator for the AABC - as far as I'm aware, there is no other version of this document from 2002, such as an actual SKOS file. It appears that this version was deprecated and eventually replaced with the simpler MemoryBC subjects list at some later point. If MemoryBC does not have it, and other regional AtoM users don't either, then I would be very surprised to learn that it is in use anywhere.

The AABC does maintain its own list-serv, and I'm pretty sure that one of the earlier Coordinators, who served for at least 8 years or longer, still follows the list, so you could always try asking there in case there are other materials available from earlier times of which I'm not aware. See: https://aabc.ca/resources/electronic-mailing-list/

However, if this thesaurus is no longer being maintained, even by the AABC, you may want to consider using a different thesaurus? Otherwise, you may end up having to manually create the hierarchy via AtoM's user interface.

Cheers,

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

[A C]

Thank you for your reply, it's really helpful to know that the MemoryBC subject headings are the current best practice in the region. We will go ahead and use those.

[Tatiana Canelhas]

Hi Dan,

if I have a list of subjects saved in a csv file, or any other file (xml, pdf), and I want to prepare it to import to AtoM, is there a way? To import a list of subjects?

Thanks,

Tatiana Canelhas

[Dan Gillean]

Hi Tatiana, 

I replied in the other thread where you posted, but I will add the same answer here as well for others who find this thread: 

At this point we still don't have a CSV import for terms, so to import them, you need a SKOS file. It can be serialized in many different ways - RDF XML, n3, Turtle, etc - but you would use the SKOS import to add terms to a taxonomy. See: 

• https://www.accesstomemory.org/docs/latest/user-manual/import-export/import-export-skos/  
  

Cheers, 

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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