Thesaurus of University Terms

"In creating TUT we relied extensively on existing finding aids to generate terms and tested the thesaurus against a broad range of record series, thus ensuring that the vocabulary would have literary warrant. We wanted a system that was easy to learn and use and that did not impose a too-limited context on the descriptors. The most difficult and important task was arriving at an organizational scheme that is not tied to the organizational structure of this university. The university's structure and delegation of tasks is in a constant state of flux. A system based on the status quo would not necessarily work in ten years or even for records ten years old. The thesaurus that we created will describe the activities and functions of the university regardless of who performed them. We also have no desire to duplicate the physical arrangement which makes possible easy retrieval of records by office of origin. What resulted from our efforts is a four-part subject thesaurus that describes the people, functions, and activities of the university. The first section, Hierarchy of university Terms (HUT), is for functions and activities. The second, Administrative and academic departments, Schools, and Centers (ASC) is for names of these organizational units. The third, GEOgraphic locations (GEO) is for names of buildings and campus locations. (Although these two are of only local value we have included them to show how we handled the problem of specific names and titles that are necessary for description, especially to modify university activities and to limit searches. They also provide a pattern for creating similar lists for other institutions.) The fourth part, FORM, is a list of record types or forms that is used primarily as a device to narrow searches. (A search for information about a student government event can prevent retrieval of posters, for example.)"