Term	Definition	Comments
Category	A broad facet, primary division of a special classification system or of a main class of a general one. (ISO 5217)	In the UNSPU, the term category is used in connection with LEXICON entries. The definition of categories is not complete.
Dictionary	A reference tool containing an alphabetical list of words, with information given for each word, usually including meaning, pronunciation, and etymology.	In the UNSPU, the LEXICON is not completely consistent with the definition of a dictionary since we do not provide pronunciation and etymology.
Entry	An entry is a full row in a database table.	Examples of entries in the UNSPU are ae definition of a user type in table USER TYPES, the definition of a term in LEXICON, an application in table APPLICATIONS, or the specification of an requirement in table REQUIREMENTS.
Glossary	Terminological dictionary which contains a list of designations from a subject field, together with equivalents in one or more languages. NOTE: In English common language usage, glossary can refer to a unilingual list of designations and definitions in a particular subject field. (ISO 1087:2000).	In the UNSPU, the term glossary is not used except for the glossary given here.
Ontology	A reference tool containing an explicit formal specification of how to represent the objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships that hold among them. NOTE: The subject of ontology is the study of the categories of things that exist or may exist in some domain. The product of such a study, called an ontology, is a catalog of the types of things that are assumed to exist in a domain of interest D from the perspective of a person who uses a language L for the purpose of talking about D. The types in the ontology represent the predicates, word senses, or concept and relation types of the language L when used to discuss topics in the domain D. (John Sowa cofounder of VivoMind Intelligence, Inc.)	In the UNSPU, we are not defining the GEOSS ontology.
Societal Sector	High-level subdivision of largely disjunct sectors of society. There are two different usages of this term: Three sectors public, private, non-profit: this is often referred to in conncetion with the "third sector", which is a term introduced for non-profit and voluntary activities as opposed to public and private activities. Economic theory subdividing economy into production, processing, and service.	In the context of the UNSPU, we divide the society in more than just the three sectors public, private, and non-profit. Currently, our list contains: Governmental, Academic, Educational, Commercial, Private, Others. This list is not optimal.
Taxonomy	The construction of a concept classification scheme by means of disjunctive classes of clustered concepts. The goal of taxonomy formation is to achieve maximal simplicity and minimal overlap of distinctive characteristics. Contrast with conceptual clustering and concept formation. (ANSDIT - ANSI Dictionary for Information Technology)	In the UNSPU, we are not developing a taxonomy for user types and applications.
Thesaurus	Controlled vocabulary including equivalent terms interrelations and rules of application. (ISO 5127:2001)	In the UNSPU, we are not developing a thesaurus, although this might be added later.

Glossary