Thesaurus Consultancy

The role and functions of a consultant in thesaurus development are reviewed, with guidance given on when and how a consultant can be selected. The need for a contract is discussed, and the steps of a thesaurus project are outlined. The cost of thesaurus development is seen to be subject to many variables, whichmakes it difficult to estimate accurately, but some guidelines are given. Testing and feedback are important, and the use of a thesaurus requires an ongoing commitment from the client organisation to maintain and develop it to keep pace with change.Ways in which thesaurus development software can be used are discussed, and attention is drawn to the need for interaction between thesaurus developers and user interface designers to allow the benefits of a thesaurus-based information retrieval system to be fully realised. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]