Use of Controlled Vocabularies in USGS Information Applications: Requirements Analysis for Automated Processes and Services (Bureau-wide Application)

Large online data catalogs use controlled vocabularies to categorize datasets in ways that allow end users to sort and select data matching their needs. The eventual goal of this project is to build functional services so that the USGS Thesaurus and other USGS-controlled vocabularies will be available to the English-speaking scientific community, especially within the USGS where they can be used to improve metadata quality and data discovery. The project team used the Tetherless World Constellation (TWC) Semantic Web Methodology, which is designed to examine use cases and determine both functional and nonfunctional system requirements without prejudicial commitments to meeting those requirements by utilizing particular technologies, [...]