Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
So-called geopolitical location by country (see Figures 3.4 and 6.1) is merely one
thematic variant of this form of spatial contextualization. However, it is the most
widespread, and for our own working corpora, is also the most productive.
However, it is entirely possible, on the basis of the existing ASW metalinguistic
resources, to construct other forms of geopolitical location which take into account,
e.g. geostrategic territories, common spaces formed by groups of countries,
linguistic spaces, religious spaces, spaces based on professional and economic
activities, etc.
In terms of the procedures of description to be used to locate a knowledge object
thematized in an audiovisual text by country, again we use the two procedures which
we have already seen in the previous chapter - namely the procedure of free
description and that of controlled description. In our example (see Figure 3.4), the
analyst proceeds as follows:
− (procedure of controlled description): he first selects <Peru> in the ASW
micro-thesaurus of contemporary countries - a micro-thesaurus which is associated
with the descriptive task
Locationbycountry
(Figure 3.4);
− (procedure of controlled description): he then selects <Ancash> in the ASW
micro-thesaurus of (administrative) regions of Peru today (Figure 3.4);
− (procedure of mixed description - free and controlled): finally, he enters the
expression <Chavín de Huantar> to denote the conceptual term [Commune] and its
category - using the ASW micro-thesaurus of administrative toponyms under the
term <Village> (Figure 3.4).
The procedure, as we have just explained it, is sufficient to allow us to locate the
subjects dealt with in the various audiovisual corpora by country, to a satisfactory
degree. However, it should be added that it is very easy to complement this approach
by way of various extensions which enable us to considerably enrich the concrete
results of a description of location by country as we have just presented it.
In this vein, let us cite the FAO's geopolitical ontology
4
which indeed constitutes
a potentially very enriching extension to our approach. The FAO's geopolitical
ontology operates with a canon of conceptual terms which is noticeably similar to
the canon we use to geographically locate a knowledge object dealt with in an
audiovisual text or corpus, including terms such as [Zone], [Territory], [Country],
etc. However, the FAO's geopolitical ontology goes a great deal further, of course,
in defining models for describing a country or territory, e.g. including concepts for
determining:
4 For further information: http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/geoinfo.asp.
