New version of ELSST thesaurus released
A new version of The European Language Social Science Thesaurus (ELSST) was published in September. FSD uses ELSST for annotating studies in its study descriptions in English. This ensures consistency and accuracy of keywords and enables a common language for data creation and discovery. Increased findability of datasets across language boundaries also enhances the international visibility of research. The thesaurus is used for describing social science data in many European countries.
With the addition of Dutch in the new version, the ELSST thesaurus now includes social scientific terms in 14 languages: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish. The thesaurus contains over 3,300 terms translated into different languages and ordered in hierarchies. Hierarchical relations and the structure of the thesaurus were streamlined for the new version, and deprecated or ambiguous terms were rephrased.
FSD participates in the development of ELSST content along with three other European data archives: UK Data Service, GESIS (Germany) and Norwegian Center for Research Data. Since the beginning of 2019, ELSST development has been funded by CESSDA’s Metadata Office project.