The semantic model of EuroWordNet as a tool for structuring the associative relation in thesauri

Abstract

Thesauri are tools which semantically organize a domain of knowledge for operational purposes. Their relational semantics is concerned with methods that connect terms with related meanings and it is important to support information retrieval, enhancing the information recall performance and contributing to improve precision.
In fact, the network of relations of a thesaurus has an important semantic function, providing a representation of the meaning of each thesaurus term and a map of the conceptual structure of a subject area.
The traditional thesaurus format - as described in international standards - includes the hierarchical, associative and equivalence relationships. However, a rather widespread opinion is that this format should be refined, in order to cope with the current needs of information organization.
This paper discusses the possibility of refining the associative relation into a number of sub-kinds by adopting the semantic model of EuroWordNet (EWN), as it was used, according to one of its national versions, ItalWordNet (IWN), taking into account the terminological database Mariterm, which contains terms belonging to the maritime domain.
It is also stressed how RT designation and refinement appear to be domain dependent, in the sense that they are associated with the specific features of a knowledge field.