Understanding ISO 25964-2 Purpose

The ISO 25964-2 standard is part of a series that deals with controlled vocabularies, particularly thesauri. These standards help organize information and improve searching within databases and libraries.

Principal Purpose of ISO 25964-2

The main goal of ISO 25964-2 is to promote interoperability. This means making it easier for different information systems and vocabulary resources to work together. Specifically, it achieves this by:

• Providing guidelines for mapping between heterogeneous vocabularies. 'Heterogeneous vocabularies' refers to different types of controlled lists or thesauri that might use different terms or structures (e.g., a subject heading list and a keyword thesaurus).
• Facilitating the exchange and reuse of data across different systems by establishing relationships between concepts in these diverse vocabularies.

In simpler terms, it helps create bridges so that information described using one vocabulary system can be understood and used by another system that uses a different vocabulary.

Analysis of Other Options

Let's look at why the other options are not the principal purpose:

• Option 1: To define MARC fields for multilingual thesauri. While ISO 25964 standards might relate to data formats like MARC, defining specific MARC fields is not the primary objective of part 2. The focus is broader than just MARC.
• Option 2: To improve the internal structure of monolingual thesauri. ISO 25964-1 specifically addresses monolingual thesauri structure. Part 2 extends the scope beyond just the internal structure of single-language thesauri.
• Option 4: To translate thesauri into XML format for digital libraries. Translating into XML is a technical implementation detail and a potential application, but not the core purpose defined by the standard itself. The standard focuses on the conceptual relationships and interoperability, regardless of the specific file format like XML.

Therefore, the most accurate description of the principal purpose of ISO 25964-2 relates to enabling communication and data sharing between different vocabulary systems through mapping.