As part of compiling the Getty's Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT),
extensive and voluminous work was done using existing terminology lists and
thesauri.  The materials they used are referenced in the AAT itself and I'm
sure they have an unpublished list of their sources so that such a
compilation would not have to be done again.

In the 1980s, the Museum Documentation Association (MDA) in England compiled
a list of such sources as well although it is out-of-date at this time but
it was very interesting.

Lancaster's works on thesaurus construction (amongst the best out there)
also contain lists of thesauri from other fields although the medical ones
I've seen do not contain lists of instruments.  Some of the most interesting
work on the concepts of thesauri was done by Dr. Roy Rada while he was at
MEDLARS.   Roy, who is a hypertext/link expert is now up in Washington State.

The AAT really is quite extraordinary and would be extremely beneficial as a
universal classification tool for museum collections.

>
>Date:    Thu, 13 Mar 1997 09:17:07 -0500
>From:    "Robert A. Baron" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: simple name/terminology list
>
>Has anyone compiled a list of terminology lists and thesauri?
>
>Such a resource, indexed by area of concern, and including information on
>who maintains each list, when it was last edited, how to obtain it, etc.,
>etc. would be a very useful document, indeed.
>
>No doubt, this would be a massive undertaking, for it would have to include
>lists created for medicine and every other discipline and endeavor, but I
>would imagine, if used properly, such a resource might prove rather useful
>to systems that cross interest areas.  For example a medical thesaurus may
>have a section on instrumentation and tools and equipment that is rather
>more sophisticated and elaborate than that found in Nomenclature.
>
>R.Baron
>mailto:[log in to unmask]
>