On 31 January 2023, CESSDA released version 3.0.0 of the CESSDA Vocabulary Service, marking an important milestone for the infrastructure. Since 18 March 2025, version 3.4.0 has been available. This new version is characterised by improved stability and enhanced performance.

Improvements in Version 3.4.0
Version 3.4.0 includes several improvements and new features. The key changes include enhanced system stability and performance, achieved through various technical optimisations. Additionally, security measures have been strengthened to make the application even safer.
Furthermore, the user experience and error handling have been optimised. Error messages are now more precise, and existing issues, such as problems with the search function and the audit log, have been resolved. The presentation has also been improved in certain areas to offer a more pleasant user experience.
In general, both functional improvements have been made, and the foundation has been laid for an even more reliable and high-performance application.

Purpose of the Service
The CESSDA Vocabulary Service (CVS) (https://vocabularies.cessda.eu) allows the discovery, search, and download of controlled vocabularies in multiple languages. The vocabularies can be downloaded in SKOS, HTML, and PDF formats.
Additionally, the service includes an editor that enables authorised users within their institutions to create, manage, and translate vocabularies. Access to the editor is managed by the service owner.

User Groups and Areas of Application
CVS is used by various user groups, including researchers, translators, and administrators of controlled vocabularies, as well as data administrators who provide metadata.
Researchers can analyse the terms used in the data descriptions to refine their searches in the CESSDA data catalogue. They can also use the controlled vocabularies to describe their own research data.
Administrators of controlled vocabularies benefit from a powerful management system that facilitates the storage and use of internal and external vocabularies.
Translators can use the system to organise the editing and management of multilingual vocabularies more efficiently.
Operators of data archives and metadata catalogues can use the REST API to integrate controlled vocabularies in a machine-readable format.

Further Information
For more information, please contact Lorenz Makula, CVS Service Owner at AUSSDA - The Austrian Social Science Data Archive, or the CESSDA Support Team at support@cessda.eu.