Abstract:
The paper discusses the main stages of creating (establishing) classes of equivalence within a
multi-lingual keyword set in the bibliography of world Slavic linguistics iSybislaw which is available
at www.isybislaw.ispan.waw.pl. This database is an information and retrieval system that was
made available to users on the Internet in 2007. Its idea was first presented to the wider scientific
community at the 12th Slavic International Congress in Cracow in 1998. Its main information
retrieval tool is the keyword language that has two basic functions in iSybislaw: metainformational
and retrieval function. The keyword metadata is based on mapping of the content of
the documents in the database, while the retrieval feature of the language allows users to derive
(obtain) relevant information from all documents. We present the most important theoretical
and practical problems of creating such classes and methodological solutions used by the designers
of the iSybislaw system. The establishment of classes of intra-linguistic and inter-lingual
equivalence allows users to gain knowledge of any expression that constitutes a given class. The
information value of the system is enriched and new access points to the knowledge presented
in the system are created. In the future terminological units from all Slavic languages as well as
English that are going to be included in the equivalence classes will allow efficient use of the
system for multilingual users. It is particularly important to include English in the structure of
individual equivalence classes, which will allow non-Slavic speakers to use the database easily.
