Viiteannos

Viiteannos, literally “reference annotation” in Finnish, is a term used in information management to describe a note or marker that signals a connection to another source within a document, database record, or catalog entry. It functions as a pointer rather than content itself.

The primary purpose of a viiteannos is to aid navigability and traceability. By marking a reference, it helps readers locate the original source, related works, or supporting data, and it supports indexing, discovery, and verification.

In practice, a viiteannos appears as a marker in the text, such as a number or label, and is linked to a full bibliographic entry or digital record. In catalogs and databases, the annotation is stored as metadata that interlinks records.

Common contexts include academic publishing, library cataloging, archival finding aids, and digital repositories. It may also be used in standards and legal documents to indicate citations or cross-references among related items.

Etymology: viite means reference, annos means annotation or note, forming a compound that describes its function. Related concepts include viite (reference), annotaatio, footnote, cross-reference, and metadata.

See also: reference, annotation, cross-reference, bibliographic reference, metadata.