The meetings commenced with a review of the methodological principles and conventions developed over the last several years by the AAT for the production of term equivalents among languages. We also duly noted whether the terms for certain objects corresponded exactly across languages or if the concept behind the term in one of the languages was broader. In the course of our week's work together, we became convinced of a wider interest in what we were doing that would facilitate the exchange of data between art historians, researchers, and subject specialists. We therefore decided to develop a larger and more ambitious project that will draw on the experience of each of the participating organizations. The publication will conform to international standards for multilingual thesauri and all languages represented will have equal status, recognizing the individual work by participating institutions.
Plans call for a publication in CD-ROM format as well as in printed form.
AAT will provide methodological experience in the identification of term equivalents and will support the meetings of the working group. The purpose of the meetings is to compare the terms and definitions and to plan for the publication. The AAT will also contribute the American English equivalents to terms chosen for the publication. Each institution, acutely aware of the importance of the publication for the international scholarly community, has given its approval, in principle, for the pursuit of this project in a legal framework yet to be determined. Any agreement drawn up will recognize the equal partnership of all participants for the development of the thesaurus, its format and publication.