1.1 This practice provides a detailed and comprehensive structure for building terminological records for reporting test results or materials designations.

1.2 A practice for structuring terminological records will contribute toward the compatibility of computerization standards being developed and, when implemented by each group incorporating terms in their documents, will assist in clarifying the distinctions between terms, their relationships, areas of application, defining authority, etc.

1.3 In addition to its utility during the standards-building process, a machine-readable file of terms using this guide could also be used to build glossaries and thesauri, important adjuncts to any computerized materials information system. Such glossaries and thesauri might be made available as a user-callable assist in a help mode, or as a transparent assist in parsing a user query or accommodating the varying terminology used in databases of diverse origin.

1.4 It may be noted that a term definition record will be most useful when all associated characteristics are delineated. However, it is recognized that for certain types of records, not all characteristics have meaning, and that for certain uses, not all characteristics must be delineated.

1.5 Where the same term name is used in more than one document, it is hoped that all items in the term record, apart from the term number, can be made identical. Where this is not possible, multiple records may be allowed but distinction maintained by coupling the term number with the term name.

1.6 Figure 1 is an example of a completed term record.