Module 8

Curating Labels & Definitions

Write publication-quality labels and definitions, drawn faithfully from source materials.

Labels and definitions are the human layer

Modules so far built the machinery — IRIs, triples, hierarchies. This module is about the words a person actually reads: the labels that name a concept and the definition that fixes its meaning. Getting these right is curation work, and it starts from source materials — the handbooks, standards, and agency pages the vocabulary is drawn from.

skos:prefLabel — the one preferred label per language.
skos:altLabel — synonyms and variants (including regional or historical names) that should still find the concept.
skos:definition — a self-sufficient statement of what the concept means, faithful to the source.

Reading labels out of the source

Source text rarely hands you a tidy list of labels — you have to spot them. A term qualifies as an altLabel when it names the same concept: a synonym, an abbreviation, or a regional/historical variant. Guidance ("evacuate early"), broader domain words ("fire weather"), and phrases that belong in the definition are not labels.

Exercise — Extract labels and a definition from the source

Source material — fire agency handbook (excerpt)

"Extreme conditions — rated Catastrophic at the top of the national scale, and historically Code Red in Victoria — produce fire weather that outpaces any response. On these days suppression is largely ineffective and authorities tell residents to evacuate early rather than wait."

1. Which terms from the source are alternative labels for Extreme Risk?

2. Which definition is faithful to the source and correctly scoped?

Conditions where firefighting is largely ineffective and residents are directed to evacuate early.The Code Red rating used in Victoria for the most dangerous fire days.A very high level of fire risk.

What makes a definition robust

A publication-quality definition is self-sufficient (it makes sense without the label), scoped to the concept, and written in plain, neutral language. Two failure modes are common:

Too general — it restates the label or could describe any sibling concept ("a moderate level of risk"). It fails to distinguish this concept from the others.
Over-scoped — it bakes in a regional or temporal qualifier that the concept doesn't actually carry ("fire danger in the Adelaide Hills"). The concept applies everywhere the scheme does; a place name wrongly narrows it. Regional variants belong in an altLabel or a skos:scopeNote, never inside the definition.

Exercise — Judge each definition

Four proposed definitions for Medium Risk. Give each a verdict, then check your work.

"Conditions where fires can be controlled with moderate suppression effort."

"A moderate level of risk."

"Fire danger typical of an average summer day in the Adelaide Hills."

"The level of risk between Low and High."

VocPub Profile

The VocPub profile requires every concept to carry a skos:prefLabel and a skos:definition. Reviewers reject definitions that merely echo the label or that pin a general concept to one place — so the curation habits above are what get a vocabulary published.

Module 7