BT: [[information management]]
RT: [[archives]], [[library science]]
---
# controlled vocabularies
The mandated use of predefined terms selected by the designers of a specific controlled vocabulary scheme as a way to organise information for subsequent retrieval. In contrast to **natural language vocabularies** (which have no such restriction).[^1]
Used in subject indexing schemes, [[subject headings]], thesauri, taxonomies, and other [[information management]] systems.
- see also: [[Homosaurus|Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ+ Linked Data Vocabulary]]
## examples
- ↬ [AustLang](https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/about)
- ↬ [ARDC: Research Vocabularies Australia](https://vocabs.ardc.edu.au/)
- ↬ [DublinCore: Creating Metadata](https://www.dublincore.org/resources/userguide/creating_metadata/)
- ↬ [Homosaurus](https://homosaurus.org/)
- ↬ [Linked Open Vocabularies](https://lov.linkeddata.es/dataset/lov)
+ see also: ↬ [Indigenous names in authority records: the case of Jandamarra](https://lissertations.net/post/829)
[^1]: ‘Controlled Vocabulary’, Wikipedia, last edited 6 January 2026, 15:10 (UTC), [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_vocabulary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_vocabulary).