Datenpaket: Collaborative Development of an Institution-Wide Controlled Vocabulary

Developing an institution-wide controlled vocabulary presents significant organisational and technical challenges. At the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, a Controlled Vocabulary (CV) Working Group was established to harmonise terminology used across the institution. Recent digitisation efforts and migration to a shared Collection Management System (Specify) revealed inconsistencies in terminology and object description practices across subcollections, limiting interoperability and discoverability.

Over a two-year period, the CV Working Group developed an institution-wide controlled vocabulary through an iterative process. Initial focus groups identified requirements and consolidated existing terminology lists into a preliminary thesaurus. A key factor in the project’s success was the structured coordination of stakeholder involvement. Internal presentations and regular communication with collection managers and other interested parties helped build institutional support for adopting the CV and updating collection records. Domain expertise from collection staff was essential to refine the vocabulary and ensure that it remained accurate and applicable across subcollections. Following the distribution of the preliminary vocabulary, participants were invited to review and refine term definitions.

The CV has since been integrated into institutional digitisation workflows, and its ongoing maintenance is now embedded in collection data management practices at the museum. This case study highlights the importance of collaboration and iterative review in the implementation of institution-wide vocabulary standards.

This presentation was given at TDWG 2026 in Oslo, Norway on 24.09.2026.