Centralized Locations and Tools for Multiple Terminologies: Servers, Services, Databases, and Registries

Application Programming Interface (API)

A set of definitions of the ways in which one piece of computer software communicates with another or a programmer makes requests of the operating system or another application; operates outside the realm of the direct user interface.

Value Set

A collection of concepts drawn from one or more vocabulary code systems and grouped together for a specific purpose

Vocabulary Server

A database that hosts multiple terminologies.

Metadata Registry (MOR)

A database that houses metadata through the use of a model (metamodel).

Unified Medical Language System (UMLS)

A program initiated by the National Library of Medicine to build an intelligent, automated system that can understand biomedical concepts, words, and expressions and their interrelationships; includes concepts and terms from many different source vocabularies

Metathesaurus

A very large, multipurpose vocabulary database that contains information about patient care, health services billing, public health statistics, indexing, and cataloging biomedical literature, or basic, clinical, and health services research. This information is obtained from source vocabularies. A methathesaurus is organized by concept or meaning, links synonymous names to the concept, and identifies semantic relationships between different concepts.

U.S. Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)

A website of metadata registries funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (Department of Health and Human Services 2013).

Common Terminology Services (CTS)

Define and describe how a vocabulary server should perform instead of focusing on how the vocabulary server is organized or what type of content is present within the vocabulary server.

Metadata

Descriptive data that characterize other data to create a clearer understanding of their meaning and to achieve greater reliability and quality of information. Metadata consist of both indexing terms and attributes. Data about data: for example, creation date, date sent, date received, last access date, last modification date.

NCI Metathesaurus (NCIm)

One of two main references created by the National Cancer Institute Enterprise Vocabulary Services. Each reference resource contains concepts with associated codes, synonyms, definitions, and inter-concept relationships.

NCI Thesaurus (NClt)

One of two main references created by the National Cancer Institute Enterprise Vocabulary Services. Each reference resource contains concepts with associated codes, synonyms, definitions, and inter-concept relationships.

UMLS Terminology Services (UTS)

The web interface for browser downloads and access to the APIs provided by the UMLS.