  The GIIDA project aims to develop a digital infrastructure for the spatial
information within CNR. It is foreseen to use semantic-oriented technologies to
ease information modeling and connecting, according to international standards
like the ISO/IEC 11179. Complex information management systems, like GIIDA,
will take benefit from the use of terminological tools like thesauri that make
available a reference lexicon for the indexing and retrieval of information.
Within GIIDA the goal is to make available the EARTh thesaurus (Environmental
Applications Reference Thesaurus), developed by the CNR-IIA-EKOLab. A web-based
software, developed by the CNR-Water Research Institute (IRSA) was implemented
to allow consultation and utilization of thesaurus through the web. This
service is a useful tool to ensure interoperability between thesaurus and other
systems of the indexing, with, the idea of cooperating to develop a
comprehensive system of knowledge organization, that could be defined
integrated, open, multi-functional and multilingual. Currently the system is
available in multiple languages mode (Italian - English) and navigation can be
done in the following ways: Alphabetical, Hierarchical and for Themes. A full
search allows to find any term by searching for the whole term or a part of it
and as well as allows to filter the results by themes. Within a collaborative
initiative with the CNR-Institute of Applied Mathematics and Information
Technology (IMATI) a SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) version of
EARTh was developed. This will ensure the possibility to support the use of the
thesaurus within the framework of the Semantic Web in order to be used in
decentralized metadata applications
