Definitions

The disaster services section of A Taxonomy of Human Services: A Conceptual Framework with Standardized Terminology and Definitions for the Field provides a classification system that allows organizations maintaining human services databases to index and access community resources based on the specific types of disaster services they provide. The structure, which was developed as a part of the NERIN project (National Resource Information Network) , is also used to organize NERIN's links to other disaster resources on the Internet.

The taxonomy presents terminology in a hierarchical structure which groups terms in ten broad service categories and a separate target groups section. Within each section, terms are broken down in five levels from the most general to the most specific. Term identification numbers mark the place and level of terms within the hierarchy. Definitions, which describe the scope of services, are provided for all terms as well as "see also" references which help the user find related terms in other parts of the hierarchy. An outline is included at the beginning of each section to give users an "at-a-glance" view of the overall hierarchical structure. The taxonomy also contains an alphabetical index which displays terms in the hierarchy in alphabetical order, and which also includes synonyms for terms which enable users to access preferred terms based on language that is more familiar to them.

Click here for the full document in PDF format (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view).