Thesauri Rijkswaterstaat

In this publication environment you will find thesauri (singular: thesaurus) from Rijkswaterstaat. A thesaurus is a 'dictionary plus', and contains an overview of terms or concepts with their properties (definitions, synonyms, abbreviations, translations) and mutual relationships, which are used within or are relevant to various processes and domains of Rijkswaterstaat and its partners. The publication environment and thesauri are in full development and additions and improvements are constantly being made. The current environment is positioned as a Proof of Concept.

Please note: no rights can be derived from the contents of these thesauri without prior written permission from Rijkswaterstaat.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

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  1. What is a thesaurus?

    2. A thesaurus is a "dictionary plus", and contains an overview of terms or concepts with their properties (definitions, preferred terms, synonyms, abbreviations and translations), which are linked by relationships and often also have a description with them. Thanks to the relations, it is possible to search for information in a structured manner using the terms.

  2. Which properties and relationships are included in a thesaurus?

    3. A thesaurus, such as the AOA Glossary of Terms and Definitions (in Dutch: ABDL), can show several types of relationships:

    • On the left, the “A-Z” tab shows the alphabetical order of the preferred terms, supplemented with alternative terms (synonyms and abbreviations), referring to the preferred terms;
    • The tab “Hierarchy” shows a species tree, which goes from more generic (“broader”) concepts to increasingly specific (“narrower”) concepts. A more specific concept has all the properties and relationships of the parent concept, supplemented with one or more distinguishing characteristics. The most generic term in the ABDL is “thing”. You can try this in the search function, which is located at the top right of the page.
      Such a tree structure, also called a taxonomy, is well known from Carl Linnaeus, who drew up a classification of all types of organisms in 1735. This is a powerful structure, which both contributes to clear communication between people, but also forms the backbone of meaningful processing by computers;
    • The tab “Groups” shows a structure of so-called collections, in which concepts are grouped into knowledge domains and / or disciplines.

    The right screen shows a description of the selected concept, including the preferred term, alternative terms, one or more definitions and the translation into English (other languages are not included yet). A definition is designated as a preferred definition (prefDef), or as an alternative definition (altDef), and is always provided with a source reference.

    Also shown is a hyperlink (URI), which uniquely identifies the concept. It is not yet possible to click on this link. Note: the form of this hyperlink will shortly be brought into line with the URI strategy (NTA 8035: 2020).

  3. Where does the content of the thesauri come from?

    4. All concepts and definitions are traceable to source documents, including legislation and regulations, national and international standards and company-specific standards, which are used within, or are relevant to various work processes and domains of Rijkswaterstaat and its partners. That is why a definition of a term always contains a reference to that source. The compilation and maintenance of a thesaurus based on the available source documents is carried out by an editorial group within Rijkswaterstaat. Each thesaurus can have its own editorial group. For example, the AOA Glossary of Terms and Definitions is managed by the WKI department of the RWS GPO organizational unit.

  4. Can I pass on suggestions for additions or improvements?

    5. Yes, you can. In addition to the editorial group, all Rijkswaterstaat employees or partners can submit suggestions for additions and improvements. Use our contact form for this. Your suggestions will be taken into consideration by the editorial group if the following information is provided in full:

    Uw suggesties worden door de redactiegroep in behandeling genomen, indien de volgende informatie volledig is meegeleverd:

    • Name, email and telephone number of applicant;
    • Description of the applicant's relationship with Rijkswaterstaat (RWS employee, partner employee, name of partner);
    • Reference to the hyperlink of the publication environment (https://rws.begrippenxl.nl);
    • Suggestions for additions should be based on public and actively managed source documents, which can be consulted within or outside Rijkswaterstaat. Therefore, always add a hyperlink to the source and the motivation why this source with its concepts and definitions is relevant to Rijkswaterstaat;
    • Suggestions for improvements (content or form) should refer to the relevant passages in the original source documents (content) or the relevant page of the publishing environment (form);

    The editorial group decides whether to adopt suggestions in the thesaurus.

  5. Can I see what the most recent changes are?

    6. The tab "New" contains a chronological overview of the new or changed terms. At the bottom of the concept page you can see when the concept was created or modified.

  6. How often is new content added?

    7. In principle, the thesauri are updated at least once a year. This may be deviated from in some cases. Members of the editorial group make the adjustments.