September 2022 release (ELSST version 3)

We are pleased to announce that two new languages, Hungarian and Icelandic, have been added to ELSST with this release. This brings the total number of languages in ELSST to 16. The remaining language versions have all been updated, with the exception of Danish, Dutch, Romanian and Slovenian. Translation of Preferred Terms for all target languages is between 98-100% complete. The Lithuanian version of ELSST now also contains Definitions and Scope notes.

This release also sees a number of technical innovations that are designed to promote ELSST’s compliance with the FAIR principles.

Firstly, concepts deprecated from the previous version are now available to view in ELSST. FAIR principles indicate that metadata such as URIs should always remain accessible even though the object may no longer be in use. To ensure that URIs remain resolvable, obsolete concepts are no longer deleted from ELSST, but are deprecated instead. This means that they remain viewable online, with a link to the concept that has replaced or superseded them, if applicable - not all concepts have a replacement.

Secondly, versioning of ELSST has also been refined, with a new URI formatting and the move to a simpler and more streamlined SKOS concept scheme, from the previous SKOS-XL concept scheme for lexicalisations. This improves interoperability by making the ELSST concept scheme easier to interpret.

Content development work in this period has focused on completing the revision of terms related to sexuality, as well as updating terms relating to migration.

The following changes were made to the English source language version:

44 new concepts
8 deprecated concepts
3 relabelled Preferred Terms
42 new Entry Terms
30 deleted Entry Terms
35 new or changed Definitions
5 new or changed Scope Notes
84 changes to the Broader/Narrower Concepts
57 changes to Related Concepts
59 new or changed History Notes

Examples

New concepts include the following terms related to sexuality including GENDER EXPRESSION, TRANSGENDER PERSONS, MASCULINITY, FEMININITY, LGBTQI+ RIGHTS, HOMOPHOBIA, and TRANSPHOBIA. Other new terms include FORCED MIGRATION, REFUGEE POLICY, ASYLUM SEEKERS, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POLARIZATION and SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE
Deprecated concepts: The following four concepts have been deprecated: SEXUAL AND GENDER GROUPS, RIGHTS OF SPECIAL GROUPS, GREEN BELT AREAS and BRITISH HISTORY. We have also deprecated the following concepts that were previously reported as deleted in the September 2021 release: CONSERVATION, QUALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION (now an Entry Term of ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES), PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (now an Entry Term for POLLUTANTS)
Relabelled Preferred Term: GENDER DISCRIMINATION instead of SEX DISCRIMINATION; TRADESPEOPLE instead of TRADESMEN, and HEATWAVES instead of HEAT WAVES
New Entry Terms include MARGINALISATION as Entry Term for SOCIAL EXCLUSION, and MOBILE MONEY as Entry Term for MOBILE PAYMENTS
Deleted Entry Terms: include REFUGEE POLICY as Entry Term for IMMIGRATION POLICY
New or changed Definitions include the addition of Definitions to the following two terms: FORCED MIGRATION (THE MIGRATION OF PEOPLE IN WHICH AN ELEMENT OF COERCION EXISTS, INCLUDING THREATS TO LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD, WHETHER ARISING FROM NATURAL OR MAN-MADE CAUSES, E.G. WAR, NATURAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS, FAMINE OR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS) and SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE (THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHAPE THE ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS OF INDIVIDUALS)
Broader/Narrower Concept changes include the change of the Broader Concept of NON-BINARY PERSONS from SEXUAL AND GENDER GROUPS to GENDER IDENTITY, and the Broader Concept of WOMEN’S RIGHTS from GENDER EQUALITY to HUMAN RIGHTS