Vocabulary Control in Nautical Information Resources

Abstract

Nautical charts are an essential information resource for safe navigation. However, they are not only a useful resource for navigators; According to the International Hydrological Organization (IHO), they essentially fulfill two functions: 1) Maritime navigation, since most hydrographic services have the obligation to provide coverage of the nautical charts of their national waters, in all coastal waters, including major ports and smaller marinas of purely local interest. and 2) as a source of information, since national nautical charts present a detailed configuration of the seabed. Information on the shape of the seabed is required by a diversity of users in addition to navigators; for example, engineers interested in onshore construction, dredging contractors, oceanographers, defense agencies, coastal zone managers, etc. Traditionally, there are three essential elements that play an important role in information retrieval: title, author, and subject access point. Among the latter, one can distinguish indexing by natural language and by controlled vocabularies. The thematic access points, makes it easier for the user to search and retrieve all types of resources that satisfy their information needs. Traditionally in the processing of nautical charts the natural language is used predominantly, motivated by a lack of availability of a controlled vocabulary specific to the área in Spanish. The objective of this work is aimed at establishing the criteria for the construction of a controlled vocabulary in Spanish in the field of nautical charts.