The NISO began exploring issues around vocabulary development and maintenance in 2013. In 2014, they proposed three projects around vocabulary use and reuse, documentation, and preservation. These projects examine policies, social considerations, and guidance needed to support stable vocabularies. The groups aim to limit "orphan vocabularies" and provide recommendations for responsible long-term governance, documentation, and adoption of at-risk vocabularies. Educational webinars were held in 2015, and a draft of best practice recommendations is planned for fall 2016 to support interoperability and understanding of vocabulary management issues.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS
TO SUPPORT VOCABULARY
DEVELOPMENT AND
MAINTENANCE
NISO UPDATE:

2. BEST PRACTICE GUIDANCE NEEDED
IT’S A WILD WORLD OUT THERE …
• NISO began exploring issues around vocabularies in 2013 as part of its
NISO Bibliographic Roadmap Development Project
(http://www.niso.org/topics/tl/BibliographicRoadmap/).
• A new work item proposal for three Vocabulary development projects was
proposed late in 2014, looking at:
• Vocabulary policies and practices on use and reuse
• Vocabulary documentation at all levels
• Vocabulary preservation requirements
• Marti Heyman (OCLC) chairs the Steering Committee and is also liaison
to the Content & Collection Management Committee

3. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
USE AND REUSE
• The Use/Reuse group is chaired by Diane Hillmann (Metadata
Management Associates) and Daniel Lovins (New York University)
• Do potential users need to ask permission to use or extend a
vocabulary?
• How do practitioners know if they are extending a vocabulary
correctly?
• How are translations, forks, and versions managed?
• This group is looking at both policy and social considerations; not
technical issues

4. WHAT AND HOW?
VOCABULARY DOCUMENTATION
• The Documentation group is chaired by Natalie Bulick (Indiana
State University) and Sean Glover (YBP)
• Documentation is essential at the top (collection) level as well as at
the level of classes, properties (element vocabularies) and
concepts (value vocabularies)
• What does good documentation look like? What should it
support?
• How does good documentation build stability? How important Is
it to identify governance and sustainability policies?

5. COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR STABILITY?
PRESERVATION
• The Preservation group is chaired by Sherle Abramson-Bluhm
(University of Michigan).
• How can we limit “orphan vocabularies”?
• Is it possible to assist organizations losing funding?
• How do transitions in business models (from print to digital
platforms) contribute to abandoned vocabularies?
• Is it possible to build guidance and support for ‘adoption’ of
orphan vocabularies by willing individuals or institutions?

6. FOCUS ON STABILITY
THE REAL GOALS
• Vocabularies are a critical part of bibliographic infrastructure
• Libraries have traditionally depended on major institutional players
to build and maintain vocabularies for the community
• Distribution patterns for data are changing with the growth of
linked data technologies, creating uncertainty
• Looking more broadly at ‘cultural heritage’ identifies critical needs
unmet with the continuing primary focus on library needs

7. ACTIVITIES REQUIRES ENABLES
USE/RE-USE ADEQUATE PUBLIC
DOCUMENTATION
PRESERVATION,
STABILITY
DOCUMENTATION RESPONSIBLE LONG-
TERM GOVERNANCE
USE/RE-USE,
PRESERVATION,
STABILITY
PRESERVATION ADEQUATE PUBLIC
DOCUMENTATION;
RESPONSIBLE LONG-
TERM GOVERNANCE
USE/RE-USE,
STABILITY
Relationships Between NISO BibRM Groups

8. DC-2011 (THE HAGUE): VOCABULARY WORKSHOP
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
• DC-2011 Vocabulary Special Session Meeting Report:
http://wiki.dublincore.org/index.php/DC-
2011_Vocabulary_Special_Session/Meeting_Report
• Workshop defined issues around use and interoperability for all
kinds of vocabularies
• Primary needs identified as establishing best practices and
appropriate policies, as well as raising the general level of
understanding
• DCMI unable to follow up on the important issues

9. WEBINARS FOR ALL
TO START:
• Group as a whole decided that prior to starting work an educational
component was necessary
• Three webinars:
• General issues in vocabulary management: Diane Hillmann
• A Bibliographic Roadmap miscellany: Vocabularies in space,
time, and nets: Gordon Dunsire
• Vocabulary preservation issues: Pierre-Yves Vandenbussche
(Linked Open Vocabularies)

10. A FOCUS ON SOCIAL AND POLICY ISSUES
DECISIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
• Technical issues are better handled by organizations such as the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and our recommendations will
cite the most relevant
• Remit of three groups is close and intertwined—the recommended
practice document will include all
• A major portion of the final recommendations will include definitions
to clarify what we are talking about (and what we aren’t)
• Hope to have an early draft for review out by fall of 2016
• Final recommendations expected by the end of the year