alsoRelated

Alsorelated is a term used in metadata tagging and information retrieval to denote items that are connected to a given reference item in a secondary or contextual sense. It is intended to capture relationships that accompany a primary link, but do not imply direct equivalence, hierarchy, or strong similarity.

Origin and usage: The phrase appears in discussions about metadata schemas, knowledge graphs, and recommendation systems as a practical label for weaker or context-driven connections. It is not a formal, standardized relation across major data standards, and its exact meaning can vary between platforms. In practice, alsorelated serves as a flexible cue for systems to consider additional items when presenting related content.

Encoding and examples: Alsorelated is typically implemented as a property or field within a data model that lists identifiers of related items. For example, in a content database, a record for Item A might include alsorelated: [Item B, Item C], where B and C share contextual links such as common topics, overlapping audiences, or concurrent publication dates. This can be represented in JSON-LD, RDF, or other formats, though interoperability depends on consistent interpretation of the term.

Benefits and limitations: Alsorelated can improve discovery by surfacing items connected through context rather than strict similarity. However, because the term is not standardized, its scope can be ambiguous. Clear documentation of criteria for alsorelated decisions and consistent usage within a system are important to avoid user confusion and misinterpretation.

See also: related, see also, recommended, and other non-hierarchical relationship labels used in metadata and knowledge graphs. As of now, alsorelated is largely a descriptive, organizational term rather than a universally adopted standard.