Information Technology Reference
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Controlled description also enables us to maintain a maximum degree of
homogeneity in the results of the analyses carried out by different analysts, because
these analysts have to use pre-defined terms to talk about their textual objects
(which is obviously not the case with free description).
In addition, the pre-defined terms in a micro-thesaurus can
a priori
be provided
with extra information to enrich a concrete analysis. Thus, for instance, every region
listed in a micro-thesaurus can
a priori
be enriched with location coordinates
(thereby freeing the analyst from having to carry out that task himself, which could
quickly become time-consuming and tedious). It can be referenced in resources
exterior to the ASW metalinguistic system. For instance, a particular region of the
world can be referenced in the Wikipedia textual database. Finally, any area or place
which figures in an ASW micro-thesaurus can be classified
a priori
and form part of
a classification, such as the one shown in Figure 6.5, without the analyst having to
carry out such a classification himself each time he enters a new place or area.
6.5.Contextualizationbytemporallocation
As already mentioned at the start of this chapter, contextualization by temporal
location is a second form of contextualization of a knowledge object thematized in
an audiovisual text. We shall distinguish two more specialized forms here:
1. the first is actual
chronologicallocation
of a knowledge object;
2. the second is
historical location
, i.e. pinpointing a knowledge object with the
help of eras making up a particular history (human history, national history, cultural
history, scientific history, etc.).
Figure 3.5 shows a very simple example of a functionally specialized sequence
of a form for analyzing the audiovisual content which offers a succinct analysis of
both the chronological and historical location of a knowledge object. Our example
deals with the
technical culture
of the
Chavín civilization
in
Peru
in the
4
th
Century
B.C.
- a period which is sometimes called the <pre-Moche era> (that is, a historical
period situated before the time of the Moche civilization, which first appeared
around the 1
st
Century B.C. in a valley of the same name in Peru).
Technically speaking, this sequence can be broken down into three activities to
be carried out by the analyst:
1. the first activity (which is obligatory) can be reduced to simply selecting the
sequence's unique conceptual term - in this case, the conceptual term [Century];
