Themenfeld

Themenfeld, literally “topic field,” is a concept in information science and library science used to describe the topical area that a document, record, or data item covers. It functions as a basic unit in knowledge organization, complementing other metadata such as author, date, or language. The term is commonly used in German-speaking institutions and in discussions of classification and indexing systems.

In practice, Themenfelds are used to classify and index material. A controlled vocabulary, thesaurus, or classification scheme assigns one or more Themenfelds to a record, guiding indexing, search, and navigation. They enable users to browse by topic or to filter results by subject area. The exact set of Themenfelds and their granularity depend on the system in use.

Themensfelds are usually organized as hierarchies or facets, with broader and narrower fields and cross-links to related topics. They can be crosswalked to other schemas, such as international classifications or multilingual vocabularies, to support interoperability and translation.

Example: a document about solar energy might be associated with Themenfelds like Environment, Renewable Energy, and Technology. A paper on artificial intelligence could be assigned to Themenfelds such as Computer Science and Information Technology. In practice, institutions tailor Themenfelds to their collection scope.

See also: Fachgebiet (discipline), Schlagwort (keyword), Taxonomy, Thesaurus, Faceted search, Knowledge organization. The term is primarily used in German-language contexts but has equivalents in English, such as subject field or topic area.