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Preferred Terms

Purpose of the List



The purpose of this list is two-fold. First, it was created to help editors decide on the appropriate terms to use when grouping sites that are related to one another by their form (e.g., Chat Rooms and Message Boards, News, Directories). This supports an ODP Guideline for choosing subcategory names:



"Where a category's resources are related to one another by their form (e.g., Chat Rooms and Message Boards, News sites, Directories), a good subcategory name usually uses the word that is used most frequently in other areas in pertinent top category."



This Preferred Term List saves the editor a significant amount of time and labor wading through categories to find the "most frequently" used term. It centralizes the most appropriate and frequently used terms for categories of sites that are grouped together based on their form. Secondly, this list was created to help editors interested in standardizing their subcategories to identify what terms need to be replaced and what terms to use as replacements.



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How to Use the List

For each term, there is a "Preferred Term" listed in bold face. Underneath you'll see a brief description and information about the scope of the term. Below that, you'll see a list of "Use ___ instead of:" terms. These terms actually come from the directory, and although some might be outdated, they should give editors an idea of what type of terms need to be replaced. This means that if you are using any of these terms in your category, you are encouraged to change the category name to the Preferred term. Changes should be made in the appropriate Rename/Move/Delete/Sort Requests thread in each forum.

Also, remember the guideline which suggests that "Helpful subcategory names do not repeat the name of the parent category". Thus, when applying these preferred terms, it is generally best to avoid prefixing the preferred term with all or part of the parent category name. Thus, use Sports/Events rather than Sports/Sporting_Events.

Preferred Term



Scope: Description of scope.



Use Preferred Term instead of:

  • Term 1
  • Term 2
  • Term 3
  • Term 4
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Maintaining the List

While staff has established this list, it is expected that the community will be responsible for its future growth, development and management. Staff will maintain that list in its current form, but changes will not be made without agreement from the community. Editors should start and maintain a running Ontology thread about the maintenance and development of this list. Staff will monitor the forum and update the list as necessary.



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Enforcing the Use of Preferred Terms

While editors are not required to use the terms on this list for category names, they are highly recommended in order to create a consistent, predictable, and standardized taxonomy. Editors are encouraged to use this list, in the interest of uniform searching across the directory, but it's up to the editors as to when it's appropriate to use a variation of a term or phrase when that makes sense for a particular category. Category editors should consult top level, editall, meta, or even staff editors if they have a question about when a term is appropriate. Upper level editors should also promote the use of the Preferred Term list within their categories.

In addition, editors in some large Directory branches have agreed to use branch-specific preferred terms for their categories. In the case of disagreement between terms in this list and those in branch guidelines, editors are encouraged to use the branch specific term. For example, the Regional template uses Maps_and_Views and Guides_and_Directories rather than the terms in this list. It is recommended that editors become aware of any category naming conventions in areas where they edit.

Branch-specific Preferred Terms:



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Term Index

Academic Departments



See Education

Articles



See News and Media

Chats and Forums



Scope: Use for groups of sites that include links for interactive, real-time online chat rooms, bulletin boards, discussion groups, and message boards.



See Also: Mailing Lists

Use Chats and Forums instead of:

Conferences



Scope: Use for formal and informal conferences, meetings, trade shows, workshops, and associated events. Use Events for sporting, social recreational, or entertainment gatherings only.



See Also: Events

Use Conferences instead of:

Directories



Scope: Use for sites containing alphabetical or classified lists of resources covering a particular subject area. Directories is used in place of Guides for sites which provide a straight list of sites, sometimes with a brief description and not, generally, including additional information.



See Also: Guides | Resources | Search Engines

Use Directories instead of:

Education



Scope: Use as a broad term covering all educational aspects of a topical area, including lists of schools, curricula, courses, syllabi; as well as sites intended for students. The narrower term may be used as a subcategory or it may stand alone. If they are stand alone categories there should not be an Education category.

Use Education instead of:

Academic Departments



Scope: Use for lists of Academic departments.

Use Academic Departments instead of:

Schools and Instruction



Scope: Use for lists of schools; as well as training and instructional programs in applied and non-academic areas. Schools and Instruction can be a stand alone category or it may be a subcategory under Education.

Use Schools and Instruction instead of:

Employment



Scope: Use to list all career and employment sites for the topical area, including job listings.

Use Employment instead of:

Events



Scope: Use for sporting, social, recreational, or entertainment gatherings only. For organized meetings, Use Conferences.



See Also: Conferences

Use Events instead of:

FAQs, Help, and Tutorials



Scope: Includes collections of FAQ, Help and Tutorial sites on a particular topic.

Use FAQs, Help, and Tutorials instead of:

Fan Art



See Fan Works

Fan Fiction



See Fan Works

Fan Pages



Scope: Use for sites that were created by and for enthusiasts of a particular topic, person, organization, etc.



See Also: Fan Works

Use Fan Pages instead of:

Fan Works



Scope: Use as an umbrella category, which may include the narrower terms as subcategories. Fan Fiction and Fan Art can also stand on their own as categories if Fan Works is not being used.

Use Fan Works instead of:

Guides



Scope: Use for web sites that provide guiding information on a subject or about a place, example, travel, dining, buyer's, price, etc. Guides is used in place of Directories when the sites in the categories provide information beyond a simple listing and description. For example, a travel guide would include information on the best places to go in a location in addition to links.



See Also: Directories

Use Guides instead of:

History



Scope: Use for sites which provide historical information on a topic.

Use History instead of:

Image Galleries



Scope: Sites which are only or predominantly pictures and images. Often used in Celebrity categories.

Use Image Galleries instead of:

Internet Service Providers



Scope: Use for categories that list Internet Service Providers.

Use Internet Service Providers instead of:

Journals



See News and Media

Magazines and E-zines



See News and Media

Mailing Lists



Scope: Use for sites about electronic discussion groups whose communications are transmitted over email.



See Also: Chats and Forums

Use Mailing Lists instead of:

Maps



Scope: Used to classify sites that contain maps of places.

Use Maps instead of:

News and Media



Scope: Use as an umbrella category for news services, newspapers, books, magazines and e-zines, and journals. The narrower terms may be used as subcategories or may be stand alone categories. If they stand alone, there should be no News and Media category.



See Also: Journals | Magazines and E-zines | Research | Reviews

Use News and Media instead of:

Articles



Scope: For collections of listings which are, in general, single non-scientific articles (as opposed to large sites). Articles which focus on reviewing a product or service belong in a Reviews category. Collections of scientific articles fall under either Research or Journals categories.



See Also: Journals | Magazines and E-zines | Research | Reviews

Use Articles instead of:

Journals



Scope: Regularly issued scholarly publications that deal with a particular subject or professional activity. Can be placed at the same level as News and Media if the editor prefers. Use Magazines and E-zines for non-scholarly publications.

Use Journals instead of:

Magazines and E-zines



Scope: Regularly issued publications containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject or area of interest. Use Journals for professional and scholarly periodicals.

Use Magazines and E-zines instead of:

Newspapers



Scope: Use for sites offering online versions of newspapers or information about print versions.

Use Newspapers instead of:

Newspapers



See News and Media

Opposing Views



Scope: Used for collections of sites which offer alternative or contrary opinions to those in another ODP category.

Use Opposing Views instead of:

Organizations



Scope: Either of the above terms may be used depending on the types of sites the category contains. Organizations are generally any organized body of people such as the Boy Scouts. Associations are used more in industry. Use to classify sites for organizations, associations, clubs, and any other organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, government department or charity.

Use Organizations instead of:

Personal Pages



Scope: Collection of web pages about an individual or group and their interests.

Use Personal Pages instead of:

Recordings



Scope: Use only for sites containing audio files and resources that pertain to the parent category. Use as subcategory for commercial sites selling audio recordings.

Use Recordings instead of:

Research



Scope: Use for sites which present research results, or describe formal research programs or organizations. Organizations/departments which offer educational programs are better listed under Education or Academic Departments.

Use Research instead of:

Resources



Scope: Use to classify sites whose purpose is to provide a comprehensive overview of a particular subject area. Resource sites typically include general information about a topic, and provide directories, FAQs, chats and forums, publications etc. Generally, the sites that could be placed in a Resources category should reside at the top level. A Resources category should only be created if there is a significant number of sites to list and there is a compelling reason to do so, for example, a top level category. In general, most categories will not need a Resources subcategory as the general sites *should* be at the top level.



See Also: Directories | Guides

Use Resources instead of:

Reviews



Scope: Used for sites giving product, movie, television, music, literary, and theatrical reviews and evaluations.

Use Reviews instead of:

Schools and Instruction



See Education

Search Engines



Scope: Used for sites that offer a subject specific search engine. This category should be used for sites where the primary focus is to search the internet broadly (e.g. Altavista) for a particular topic as opposed to being a Directory of sites.



See Also: Directory

Use Search Engines instead of:

Software



Scope: Use for sites which offer software in any of its forms, whether it be compiled programs, source code, scripts, machine code, etc.

Use Software instead of:

Travel



Scope: Use as an umbrella category for collections of travel resources, including travel agents, tour operators, and other travel providers; lodging; travel advice; travelogues; or other resources.

Use Travel instead of:

Trivia



Scope: Used for sites that offer topical trivia.

Use Trivia instead of:

Web Rings



Scope: Used for sites that represent collections of related web sites.

Use Web Rings instead of:

Webcams



Scope: Use for sites displaying live video through cameras which are connected to the web.

Use Webcams instead of: h2, h3 { clear: both; } Last update: 2005-01-14
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