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‒
or a
element
(a quality, attribute, trait, specific part, etc.) which is a feature of
the taxonomic domain;
‒
or indeed a
system
, a
totality
, a
mass
or simply a
collection (non-structured,
random,etc.)
of objects from the taxonomic domain.
Let us now consider the expression
taxonomic domain of knowledge
. It is a
conceptual field (of conceptual terms) which possesses a certain
semantic
homogeneity
thanks to the conceptual term which serves as the
closest heading
to
the branch in which it (the conceptual field in question) lies. For instance, the term
[Natural object] is the
closest heading
to the taxonomic domain (of a very general
level in the context of the ASW meta-lexicon) whose canonic base is the triplet
[Taxon of the domain “Natural object”], [Feature of the domain “Natural object”],
[System of the domain “Natural object”].
The most general taxonomic domain of knowledge objects in the ASW universe
of discourse is that whose heading is the conceptual term [Object of analysis]. In the
current manifestation of the ASW meta-lexicon, it is not deployed to its full extent,
but if need be, it is easy to do so. In any case, the ASW meta-lexicon forms a
hierarchy of taxonomic domains of knowledge, from the most general to the most
circumscribed.
As already pointed out in Chapter 12, the current version of the meta-lexicon of
conceptual terms denoting analytical objects in the ASW
universe of discourse*
distinguishes some 85 taxonomic domains of knowledge. These form the common
part of the meta-lexicon, i.e. shared by all models of description elaborated with a
view to analyzing the most diverse of audiovisual corpora. This shared part can only
be modified by the responsible part (the administrator or piloting committee) of the
ASW meta-lexicon. On the other hand, each taxonomic domain of knowledge can be
complemented by new conceptual terms and/or new taxonomic domains of
knowledge. These additions form the part which is modifiable, and peculiar to the
concept designer (the knowledge engineer) of the particular archive.
In concrete terms, if an anthropologist working on the intangible cultural
heritage of a people or region develops his own models of description (i.e. his own
library of models of description), he:
‒
relies (amongst other things) on the meta-lexicon of conceptual terms denoting
the analytical objects in the ASW universe of discourse and identifies those he needs
in order to define the topical structure(s)* relating to the universe of discourse of an
audiovisual archive;
‒
if, in an existing taxonomic domain of knowledge, a conceptual term does not
appear, the researcher adds it in the form of a conceptual term specific to a group of
users;
