The Science Explorer and the Future of the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) renewed its commitment to the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (UAT) by establishing a Working Group on the UAT. The AAS charged them with developing a vision and strategic plan for the UAT over the next five years.

When the Wolbach Library closed in March 2024, the UAT lost its half-time curator. Since then, the Working Group has released a new version, 5.1, and is preparing for another by the end of 2025. The next version will expand the number of heliophysics concepts available to better describe research in that discipline.

The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) and the Science Explorer (SciX), its multidisciplinary expansion, use the UAT as their preferred keyword system for astronomy, heliophysics, and planetary science. Keyword AI Labeler At Scix (KAILAS) is their developmental AI algorithm that will eventually assign UAT keywords to all space science articles in their collections. Members of the Working Group are providing their technical expertise and evaluating the algorithm’s performance.

The UAT is a Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) ontology for the space sciences. The AAS owns the vocabulary but distributes it freely under a liberal Creative Commons license. This open thesaurus is continually growing and adapting to scientific developments through community contributions.

In addition to ADS and SciX,

• the AAS Journals

• Icarus

• Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP)

• the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA)

• Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

• Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS)

have adopted the UAT to make articles and data more findable in their systems. When research outputs are more easily found, they are more likely to be cited and re-used, which increases the return on the initial funding investment.

The Working Group seeks your feedback on the quality of UAT concepts, the usability of the tools associated with it, and the relevance of KAILAS assignments. They will work with you to address any barriers to your adopting the UAT to describe your data products.