inis/etde thesaurus - IAEA

PREFACE
“A thesaurus is a terminological control device used in translating from the natural language
of documents, indexers or users into a more constrained ‘system language’ (document
language, information language)”. It is also “a controlled and dynamic vocabulary of
semantically and generically related terms which covers a specific domain of knowledge”.
The INIS/ETDE Thesaurus fits this definition adopted by UNESCO. 1
The domain of knowledge covered by the INIS/ETDE Thesaurus includes physics (in
particular, plasma physics, atomic and molecular physics, and especially nuclear and highenergy
physics), chemistry, materials science, earth sciences, radiation biology, radioisotope
effects and kinetics, applied life sciences, radiology and nuclear medicine, isotope and
radiation source technology, radiation protection, radiation applications, engineering,
instrumentation, fossil fuels, synthetic fuels, renewable energy sources, advanced energy
systems, fission and fusion reactor technology, safeguards and inspection, waste
management, environmental aspects of the production and consumption of energy from
nuclear and non-nuclear sources, energy efficiency and energy conservation, economics and
sociology of energy production and use, energy policy, and nuclear law.
The terms in the INIS/ETDE Thesaurus are listed alphabetically. For each alphabetical entry,
a “word block”, containing the terms associated with this particular entry, is displayed. In the
word block, terms that have a hierarchical relationship to the entry are identified by the
symbols BT for Broader Term, and NT for Narrower Term; terms with an affinitive
relationship are identified by RT, for Related Term; terms with a preferential relationship are
identified by USE or SEE, and UF for Used For, and SF for Seen For. In case of multiple
USE relationships for a forbidden term, all listed descriptors should be used to index or
search a given concept. In case of multiple SEE relationships, one or more of the listed
descriptors should be considered for indexing or searching this concept.
A non-descriptor may refer to a descriptor that has Narrower Terms. Users of the INIS/ETDE
Thesaurus should always refer to the word block of that descriptor, to ensure that the most
specific term is chosen. For all terms, only one level of Broader Terms is shown. If terms
have additional levels of broader terms, e.g. BT2, BT3, etc., this is indicated by an asterisk,
e.g. *BT1. Up to ten levels of Narrower Terms are shown for all terms. If terms have
additional levels of narrower terms, such as NT11, NT12, etc., this is indicated by an
asterisk, e.g. *NT10.
The dates printed after each descriptor indicate when the term was introduced in either the
ETDE or the INIS database and hence its earliest usage in the respective data base. If only
one date is given, the descriptor was introduced in both databases at the same time. If the
descriptor is not followed by a date, it already existed in the thesaurus before 30 June 1975.
In April 2000, a major addition of terminology to the INIS Thesaurus was made, by including
new terms from the ETDE Thesaurus. These terms can be identified by the INIS date (Apr
2000). When searching for entries in the alphabetic listing, users should take note of the
following Unicode collation algorithm (sort order):
1 SC/WS/555: Guidelines for the Establishment and Development of Monolingual Thesauri: United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, September 1973.