BARTOC

The Basel Register of Thesauri, Ontologies & Classifications (BARTOC) is a database of Knowledge Organization Systems, developed at the University Library of Basel, Switzerland. Its main goal is to document knowledge organization systems (KOS), such as classifications, thesauri and authority files, at one place in order to achieve greater visibility, highlight their features, make them searchable and comparable, and foster knowledge sharing. In contrast to other terminology registries, BARTOC includes any kind of KOS from any subject area, in any language, any publication format, and any form of accessibility. In addition it manages a list of other terminology registries.[1]

logo of BARTOC

The creation of BARTOC was motivated by the need to create a bibliography and teaching information literacy.[2] Since its launch in November 2013, BARTOC has collected information about more than 2,900 terminologies and almost 90 terminology registries until July 2019. A comparative study of terminology types and registries confirmed BARTOC to contain "a relatively sufficient amount of metadata".[3]

BARTOC’s search interface is available in 20 European languages and provides several search options. A circle of editors has gathered around BARTOC from all across Europe.[4] BARTOC has been approved by the International Society for Knowledge Organization and coordinates its technical development with project coli-conc.[5][2] The BARTOC website and database are based on Drupal. Its content is available as public domain with the Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL).