The Object is a Unit of Knowledge

Abstract

After an introduction containing definitions of the terminological entity ‘object’ from national and international standards, a classification of types of objects is suggested followed by a brief statement of the nature of objects and their forms of representation. Hereafter the question ‘what can we know about objects’ is posed and the different types of objects are described and illustrated by examples. Another central question is why knowledge about objects should be stored in a terminological databank (TDB). As it is argued, objects are units of knowledge and as such, they are central units in professional communication in an array of fields of knowledge such as history and architecture. Finally, possible data categories are proposed to meet the requirements of professional knowledge storage and transfer. In the conclusion, the main points of the paper are presented in summarised form.