KNOT Controlled Vocabularies

The KNOT Controlled Vocabularies were developed as part of the KNOT Data Model (KNOT-DM) to answer specific needs of the data model which were not appropriately covered by existing vocabularies, namely the need to classify the types of scholarly digital objects the KNOT project documents and the need to have an authority control for technologies used by these objects. This resulted in the creation of the KNOT Taxonomy and KNOT Technology Thesaurus, two SKOS-based controlled vocabularies. 

The KNOT Taxonomy aims to provide a simple hierarchical classification and definitions for different types of scholarly digital objects produced by humanities research, such as software, databases, digital platforms, and datasets. In the context of this taxonomy scholarly digital objects are understood as being either collections of structured information (such as datasets) or digital forms that enable interaction with information (software, visualization tools, etc.). 

The KNOT Technology Thesaurus aims to provide a hierarchical classification and definitions for a variety of technological concepts related to the research projects and scholarly digital objects catalogued by the KNOT project, such as the formal languages and information architecture used. 

Both vocabularies are used in the KNOT Catalogue (see https://zenodo.org/records/15037686), and intended to help increase the visibility of the scholarly digital objects created by humanities research. Definitions are taken from trusted sources and intended to act as a starting point for the classification of these objects within existing research structures and to improve authority control for the technologies used in humanities research.

The vocabularies are made available in traditional SKOS format and in SKOS with additional DCAT information, similarly to the vocabularies available from Schema, the Italian national catalogue of semantic data. The DCAT versions are labelled as such in the file name. 

Development of the vocabularies is ongoing. At the time of publication of this Zenodo record, the vocabularies are at version 1.3. All versions, as well as additional information about the vocabularies can be found on GitHub. The vocabularies can also be accessed and queried via the /DH.ARC Skosmos repository. 

The KNOT Controlled Vocabularies are part of the KNOT pilot project (2023-2025), tasked with investigating ways to integrate the Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) of Italian universities into I.PaC, the national infrastructure being built by the Central Institute for the Digitization of Cultural Heritage (ICDP) - Digital Library. More information about the KNOT project is available on the official website.