Search users may enter a misspelling, acronym, or valid spelling variant while intending the same domain term. An alternative label maps that variant to a canonical label so the search pipeline can interpret the intended meaning. section 2.4 section 6.5
Alternative labels are replacement term sequences with identical meanings. Initialisms, acronyms, misspellings, and alternative spellings commonly provide them. They form a specific subset of synonym lists, while taxonomies, ontologies, and knowledge graphs add categories, relationships, and entities around the labels. section 2.4
A normalization mapping can represent variants such as:
- RN → Registered Nurse section 2.4
- CTO → Chief Technology Officer section 2.4
- specialise → specialize section 2.4
- latop or laptok → laptop section 6.5
The usual search behavior is to normalize the less common or incorrect variant into the more common canonical form, then search for that form. Mappings can be stored separately when algorithms generate them and people may review or modify them. Document-based spell-checking and user-interaction signals provide two ways to refine corrections. section 2.4 section 6.5
Figure 2.12 Levels of domain-specific knowledge modeling. Knowledge graphs extend ontologies, which extend taxonomies. Synonyms extend alternative labels and map to entries in taxonomies.
Use the knowledge-modeling diagram to place alternative labels beneath synonym lists and alongside taxonomies, ontologies, and knowledge graphs. section 2.4
