LGCL FAQ-Category List Frequently Asked Questions

A controlled vocabulary for local government and community resources categorised in a hierarchical structure under headings familiar to citizens. More details about LGCL are published in the Guidance Notes at www.esd.org.uk/LGCLGuidanceNotes.pdf.

The latest version of LGCL and its resources are published free of charge at www.esd.org.uk/standards/lgcl and other LAWs IA&S resources accessed from the esd-toolkit Web site, page: www.esd-toolkit.org/laws.

LGCL is designed to meet these objectives:

• to provide a standard list of terms which may be used to categorise the subject matter of local authority Web sites down to the level of detail normally appropriate for such Web sites
• to control the vocabulary used for terms in a way that allows for local variance whilst referencing one standard national list
• to suggest a default browse navigation structure for local authority Web sites and provide a framework for building alternatives
• to publish equivalent and narrower 'lead-in' terms which will culminate in a comprehensive controlled vocabulary of local authority and related resources for use in automated searches

LGCL is a set of terms (of single or multiple words) in a hierarchical (or inverted 'tree') structure. Each branch of the tree may be viewed as representing a 'concept'. For that concept one 'preferred' term is given and multiple 'equivalent' terms may be given. As one drills down the inverted tree structure, terms become more specific.

With respect to LGCL it means that one term can appear more than once in different parts of the categorisation hierarchy. Wherever a term appears, it always has the same meaning.

Each term in LGCL is called an 'Item' because the list inherits a basic format common to it and other lists controlled through esd-toolkit.

The following information is stored for each item (in all controlled lists):

• Id - a unique number given to the term
• Preferred - a flag to denote if the term is preferred or a (equivalent or narrower) lead-in
• Category - a flag to denote if the term is recommended for use as a higher level 'category'. The flag is false where the term will normally only form part of a detailed keyword vocabulary
• AddedInVersion - the version of the list in which the term was added
• UpdatedInVersion - the version of the list in which the term was last updated
• Name - the term in words
• ScopeNotes - a free text description of the term and its scope
• HistoryNotes - details of the history of changes made to the term between versions of the controlled list
• BroaderItem - the broader (more general) item to which the item belongs. This represents the parent (higher) branch in an inverted tree structure. One broader term is flagged as the 'default' broader term to support Web navigation 'bread-crumb trails' and conversion of the list to mono-hierarchical format
• UseItem - a reference to the preferred term which should be used for the term
• RelatedItem - a reference to other items that may be of interest to those looking at resources related to this item. RelatedItem may occur many times for an item
Shortcut - short text which may be used as a shortcut to an item (eg '999' for 'Emergency phone numbers')

Additionally the following information is held for each LGCL item:

• A flag to denote if the term might be used in the 'A to Z' page of a local authority Web site.

At all levels, LGCL provides one 'preferred' term and any number of 'non-preferred terms'. Non-preferred terms are classified by type, including:

• synonyms - equivalent terms
• acronyms - abbreviations
• misspellings
• search terms - terms which are not directly equivalent to the preferred term but might be equivalent when compounded with another term. As such these terms might support a search engine

Search terms may appear as non-preferred terms for one or more concepts. All other types of non-preferred term apply to only one concept (and hence relate to only one preferred term).

Non-preferred terms allow different terminologies to be used in citizen interfaces whilst allowing all terminologies to be referenced against a common vocabulary.

Local authorities will be able to select which term they prefer to use, thereby switching between preferred and equivalent terms for local purposes.

LGCL is published in XML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Microsoft Word, CSV spreadsheet and RDFS formats. It is also issued in an XML format that matches the format used by the old APLAWS Category List. Transformations to other formats will be published where there is sufficient demand.

Mappings between LGCL and other controlled lists are published in XML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Microsoft Word and CSV spreadsheet formats.

Yes, it can be used as a default structure, where none exists.

The LGCL hierarchy may be seen as a categorisation of resources commonly found on local government Web sites sub-divided in a way that might allow a content author to locate an item of metadata.

By mapping the terms in LGCL to a structure which matches your navigation requirements. esd-toolkit is being modified to allow subscribing authorities to restructure the hierarchy and output it in the standard LGCL format.

Because LGCL provides an even spread of categories across subject headings. Top level terms are broad. As you go lower down the hierarchy, terms become more specific. The categorisation structure may be seen as a useful starting point for a Web site navigation hierarchy, but councils will normally change this hierarchy to match their citizens' navigation requirements.

Submit them for consideration as part of LGCL in one of these ways:

• by e-mail to standards@esd-toolkit.org
• by a posting on the esd-toolkit LAWs forum at http://www.esd-toolkit.org/lawsforum
• by spreadsheet for interim submissions of requested changes at http://www.esd-toolkit.org/forums/download.php?id=347
• by the online submission form to be made available in esd-toolkit in 2004

We strongly urge you not to add your own terms without formally submitting them so only one list exists without unofficial variants.

LAWs has produced guidelines for applying metadata to Local Authorities Web sites at http://www.esd.org.uk/LAWsMetadataGuidelines.pdf. These build on the Office of the e-Envoy's electronic Government Metadata (eGMS) guidelines published at http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemasstandards/metadata.asp. eGMS provides elements (types of information, such as 'creator' and 'subject') and element refinements which contain values describing resources, such as Web pages.

Guidelines recommend, and LAWs data schemas mandate, that certain metadata elements be populated from controlled lists.

LGCL provides a controlled list for populating the 'subject' metadata element. Two subject refinements are relevant:

• subject.category - broad subject categories
• subject.keyword - words or terms used to describe, as specifically as possible, the subject matter of the resource

LGCL (like its predecessor, ACL) provides terms suitable to populate subject.category. It also provides more detailed terms which may be used either to identify a suitable broader category term or used in their own right to populate subject.keyword. Higher level terms are also appropriate to populate subject.keyword where the subject matter of a resource is broad.

Underlying metadata should always use the preferred term, although portals and search engines may need to allow for metadata using terms that are no longer preferred, but were in a previous version of LGCL.

Whenever LGCL is used to populate metadata elements, 'LGCL' should always be explicitly referenced. For HTML Web pages, reference is made via the 'scheme' attribute of the 'meta' tag. Further guidance on metadata in LGCL is available in www.esd.org.uk/LGCLGuidanceNotes.pdf.

Yes. There are mappings from every PID List (aka the Local Government Service List) service to a single LGCL category. It is published in XML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Microsoft Word and CSV spreadsheet formats. Links for all the formats are in this diagram: http://www.esd.org.uk/standards/lgcl/lgclresourcediagram.html.

Yes. There are mappings from every ACL term to a single LGCL category. It is published in XML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Microsoft Word and CSV spreadsheet formats. Links for all the formats are in this diagram: http://www.esd.org.uk/standards/lgcl/lgclresourcediagram.html.

No, from 1.01 onwards, terms will never be deleted. Terms may be 'deprecated' by being changed from 'preferred' to 'non-preferred'.

Yes, if appropriate, terms may be moved across the hierarchy in updates.

LGCL identifies shortcuts for a small number of terms. These terms are recommended by LAWs for adoption as common shortcuts across local authority Web sites.

Shortcuts are added to the Web site address of a local authority to provide a URL for a Web page with corresponding subject matter. For example: www.mycouncil.gov.uk/recycling should go to a page with content on rubbish, waste and recycling. In addition to national shortcuts related to LGCL terms, authorities may publish and support their own local shortcuts.

The final section of the Word document www.esd.org.uk/standards/lgcl/lgcl.doc shows the shortcuts together (in human readable form).

LGCL is split into separate XML files which are brought together in the lgcl.xml through transformation. These files are as follows:

• a full list of all preferred and non-preferred terms
• a file identifying related terms which link each term with their related term
• a file identifying which terms are preferred and which non-preferred equivalent terms for LGCL purposes
• a file identifying the hierarchy of broader and narrower terms used to categorise terms for LGCL purposes

A diagram explaining the XML used to publish LGCL and to map to other lists is given at http://www.esd.org.uk/standards/lgcl/lgclresourcediagram.html.

The split of XML files is done to allow component parts to be combined in different ways for different purposes, whilst still using one standard list of terms.

To accommodate more information. Also LGCL is published in a format suitable for other controlled Lists to be maintained through esd-toolkit. For legacy systems, LGCL is also published in ACL format.