THL Toolbox > Reference > Knowledge Maps & Controlled Vocabulary > Knowledge Maps & Controlled Vocabulary User Manual
Knowledge Maps & Controlled Vocabulary User Manual
Contributor(s): David Germano
This application is part of a “universal navigation” system that provides integrated access to the Place Dictionary, Media Management System, Tibetan Dictionary, and Knowledge Maps. Please read the documentation on the universal navigation to better understand how it functions.
Related Links:
- Knowledge Maps & Controlled Vocabulary: a general introduction and background.
- Knowledge Maps & Controlled Vocabulary Editorial Manual
Introduction
Knowledge maps in this context signify hierarchical representations of a phenomena or topic. These thus function as systematic “maps” of a given topic or area of knowledge. Such knowledge maps can be very helpful to present the breadth of a given area, and help people orient themselves as to the full scope of the domain in question. Of course such maps are artificial to a degree, but this is true of all linguistic representations of an area of knowledge. Thus we are building knowledge maps for such areas as literary genres, geographical features, languages, religious sects, animals, and much more. These knowledge maps are not only helpful for readers to visualize the area and understand its various subareas, but we also utilize the knowledge maps to index THL resources. Thus as you look at a knowledge map, you can not only see a short description of each node, but you can also see whatever THL resources pertaining to it might be available - essays, texts, photos, images, audio-video, projects and so forth. In addition, labels for each node can be added in other languages.
Each knowledge map generally has a “curator,” which is a person, or people, who are responsible for watching over that knowledge map, making adjustments, finding contributors, determining which descriptions are primary if there are more than one description for a given category, and if necessary addressing disagreements about the hierarchy itself, or when descriptions are not of sufficient scholarly content. The categories or subcategories of a given knowledge map can also have curators, but should only be when there is good reason for that part of the hierarchy to have a curator independent of the overall curator of the knowledge map. In addition, every knowledge map in general, and every category and subcategory in particular, can have descriptions. Each can have multiple descriptions, each of which is prefaced by the name of the author(s), and the date it was authored or last updated.
Viewing a Knowledge Map
The 
Knowledge Map home page presents the names of the Knowledge Maps in alphabetical order. Click on the one you want. The first page will show the list of top level categories in that knowledge map on the right, and show the name of the knowledge map and its description on the left.
To explore the tree, you need to understand that each category is preceded by a +, - or ◊ sign. + signifies that the category has subcategories that are not currently being displayed (it is collapsed); - signifies that the category has subcategories that are currently being displayed (it is expanded); and ◊ signifies. Click on a category to expand it. The active category is indicated by it being highlighted. The active category’s description is displayed on the left hand side, along with any translations of its name into other languages.
If you instead want to add a subcategory to an existing category, first navigate your way through the tree to get to the relevant subcategory. Navigation is easy. Categories preceded by the + sign mean they have subcategories; the - sign means they are already expanded in the view; the diamond sign ◊ means they have no subcategories.
If you instead want to add a subcategory to an existing category, first navigate your way through the tree to get to the relevant subcategory. Navigation is easy. Categories preceded by the + sign mean they have subcategories; the - sign means they are already expanded in the view; the diamond sign ◊ means they have no subcategories.
On the lower right hand corner below the tree, you will find persistent links that go back to the home page for Knowledge Maps, as well as the home page for the specific knowledge map you are now viewing.