ASSIGNMENT No. 1

Q.1 Explain ‘subject analyses’. Also highlight various steps involved in subject analysis with relevant examples.

Subject analysis is the process by which we decide what a work is about. Related functions in library science are classification and indexing. Classification and indexing allow us to choose descriptors to help people seek an artifact under its subject (what it is supposed to be about). Recall that four of the functions of bibliographic tools are:

• Finding (find a work of which subject is known)
• Collocating (find what repository has on subject)
• Evaluating (assist in making informed decision)
• Navigating (provide users with links to related terms)

This means that collections of information need to be organised so that people can find specific works by subject or larger groups of related materials by subject, and when they do so, they need to be able to make good decisions about which materials are most useful to them. In order to make these decisions, it can be helpful for the user to be able to examine related or similar terms and items.

Subject analysis is the process by which we attempt to provide meaningful subject access to information packages. The analysis process allows cataloguers and indexers to determine the subjects associated with a work and associated useful subject terms to the item so it can be collocated by subject for retrieval. However, the process of subject analysis is not an easy or obvious one since categorisation of items and the subsequent assigning of subjects is not a simple matter.

Automatic subject analysis was an obvious idea as more information became available in digital format. Unfortunately, while it is easy to have a computer select common or uncommon words from a document, subject is more difficult since computers cannot yet do conceptual analysis. Computer assigned index terms have not been shown to improve recall or precision over human assigned index terms.

Subject analysis consists of a conceptual analysis to determine aboutness of an information package and the translation of the aboutness into the terminology used in the classification system or controlled vocabulary.

There are three basic questions for determining what an information package is about: What is it? What is it for? and What is it about?

Determining aboutness (subject) can be a difficult thing because information packages tend to be about different things. This is above and beyond the difficulty inherent in place an item into one specific category. Additionally, many people will use the same information for different purposes and it can be difficult to determine these uses beforehand.

There are a number of methods for determining the aboutness of an item. The Purposive Method tries to determine the author’s purpose in creating the work. The Figure-Ground Method tries to determine what is most central to the work (highly subjective). The Objective Method counts references to topics and presume that commonly used topic words are central (this is one of the methods used by computers). Finally, the Appealing to Unity Method tries to determine what holds the work together.

Process of subject analysis:

In my experience, the cataloguer must read and revise the content of the work to define the main and related subjects, as well as those which must not be included as a subject. On this other one: What cognitive aspects are included in subject analysis by the cataloger, indexer or classifier?

Let’s consider first that: “Cognitive processes (which may involve language, symbols, or imagery) include perceiving, recognizing, remembering, imagining, conceptualizing, judging, reasoning, and processing information for planning, problem-solving, and other applications” (Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2001); then, in order to comprehend the activities for these 3 different type of jobs, we need to understand that those three are conducted to a similar end: organize one or several collections of information sources in order to be used for a specific type of patron that may look and retrieve it.

In one hand, the cataloger and the classifier usually work for a specific collection, both have to think in which “space” those different sources will be arranged, so, the users know how to locate things easily. In the other hand, an indexer must to think the best way to represent the content in such way there’s no way to misplace the source.

The three of them needs to create a learning curve on which they will depend how to apply the decision to assign certain subject or category. Also they need to define the importance on any given subject, depending the community they are serving. For those decision-making process the cognitive process to recognize and judge are essential but in the case of the indexer, they also need to think in the technical implications that are involved to recover the contents when a subject or category is applied. So, the imagination as a cognitive process is involved as well as how to mix conceptualization among different lines of knowledge.

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Q.2 Define ‘subject heading’. Introduce ‘Library of Congress Subject Headings’ (LCSH) with examples.

Subject heading is a specific word or phrase used to represent the subject of a work—for example, a book, film, or article. Subject headings are part of a controlled vocabulary that ensures consistency in cataloging and retrieval. They help users find all materials on a given topic regardless of the author’s terminology. For instance, a book about “cars” might be assigned the subject heading “Automobiles” to match the library’s standard vocabulary.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is one of the most widely used subject heading systems in the world. It is maintained by the Library of Congress and used in library catalogs to provide subject access. LCSH consists of a comprehensive list of authorized terms, arranged alphabetically, with cross-references to guide users from unused terms to authorized ones.

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Q.3 Define Index? Highlight Post- and Pre-Coordinate indexing techniques with suitable example.

An index (plural: usually indexes, see below) is a list of words or phrases (‘headings’) and associated pointers (‘locators’) to where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a document or on a page. In a traditional back-of-the-book index the headings will include names of people, places and events, and concepts selected by a person as being relevant and of interest to a possible reader of the book. The pointers are typically page numbers, paragraph numbers or section numbers. In a library catalog the words are authors, titles, subject headings, etc., and the pointers are call numbers. Internet search engines, such as Google, and full text searching help provide access to information but are not as selective as an index, as they provide non-relevant links, and may miss relevant information if it is not phrased in exactly the way they expect.

Perhaps the most advanced investigation of problems related to book indexes is made in the development of topic maps, which started as a way of representing the knowledge structures inherent in traditional back-of-the-book indexes.

Types of indexing

There are many different types of indexing, some of which require specialised skills from indexers. Examples include:

• Bibliographic and database indexing: Bibliographic database indexers provide records for items such as journal articles. The database then provides online access to a body of literature (e.g., medical journal articles). Citation and subject details are described according to set rules specifically for that database.
• Genealogical indexing: Allow users to look up people’s names and find information about personal and family relationships.
• Geographical indexing: Create indexes to maps, atlases and other cartographic material.
• Book indexing: Provide access to detailed contents of books, including textbooks, multi-volume works, technical reports, and ebooks.
• Legal indexing: Involves indexing of legal materials by form and content.
• Periodical and newspaper indexing: Give access to the contents of individual articles and other items in serialised publications.
• Pictorial indexing: Indexes to images help users identify relevant pictures in collections of photographs, art works, videos and films.
• Subject gateways: Indexers create subject gateways on the internet which classify links to web pages of interest.

Purpose of all kinds of indexing is the retrieval of information. There are basically two types of retrieval systems.

Pre-coordinate indexing system

The kind of system in which coordination is done at the time of indexing is called pre-coordinate indexing system. In this system documents are searched under the same terms which the indexer originally assigned to them without any further manipulation of terms at the time of searching. It means that whatever compound terms are used they are created at the time of indexing, rather than at the time of searching. Since correlations are made during the indexing process and prior to use at the index, it is also called pre-coordinate or pre-correlative indexing.

The subjects represented in pre-coordinate indexes are shown with all of the component concepts coordinated. Thus, the entries in an index based upon pre-coordination are as complex as is necessary to describe the subject. But complex or composite subjects demand a series of entries and terms in order that they are described adequately.

An example: Chain indexing by S.R. Ranganathan, PRECIS (Preserved Context Index System) by Derek Austin, POPSI (Postulate-based Permuted Subject Indexing) by G. Bhattacharya, SLIC (Selective Listing In Combination) by J.P. Sharp.

ADVANTAGES

1. Pre-coordinate indexes eliminate the need for sophisticated search logic. The user just looks under the terms that are expected to find the subject described. This is a direct method of search with which users are well acquainted.
2. It requires no special features in their physical format. Almost all printed indexes reflecting pre-coordinate indexing principles are hard copy.
3. Its principles are applicable to a limited extent in on-line or off-line searched computer based information retrieval systems.
4. These also have found some application in subject indexes to library catalogues and the shelf arrangement of book-stock. These are to be found in abstracting and indexing journals, national bibliographies and indexes to journals.
5. In this single or multiple entry, present certain advantages at the search stage. It is possible for a number of searches to be conducted simultaneously.

LIMITATIONS:

1. In pre-coordinate systems, the multidimensional character of the subject matter is forced into a one-dimensional representation, which then necessitates repeating the index entry in some way, for example by rotation of the terms.
2. In this system relationships among topics are built once and for all into the system vocabulary or index entries formed from its components by the indexers. They are non-manipulative.
3. A multiple access approach is possible if we enter the document several times in the index by duplicating the citation.
4. These are also criticized on the ground that even extensive duplication of entries does not provide true multidimensional retrieval capability to multidimensional subject matter.
5. Efficient approaches to information retrieval demand such systems that permit the free “combination” of classes and the terms representing them.
6. A number of ways have been suggested to provide multiple approach to retrieval in pre-coordinate indexes without complete permutation of index terms.

Post–coordinate Indexing System

As the coordination of index terms is done after the index file has been compiled, this indexing system is called post-coordinate indexing system.

Examples for post-coordinate indexing system:

• Uniterm system of Taube dates about 1951
• Peek-a-boo by Batten in England and Cordonnier in France by 1940
• Edge-notched card system by Calvin Mooers

COMMON FEATURES

1. None of the entries in the system are specific. There are relatively large number of documents under each heading and if the searcher approaches the index as a conventional index, they are liable to become involved in extensive scanning of entries in order to discriminate between relevant and less relevant documents.
2. There are usually a larger number of entries in a post-coordinate indexing system than in an index based upon pre-coordinate indexing principles.
3. The number of different headings in the index is relatively small because, as in classification, a systematic scheme needs fewer categories or headings than an equivalent enumerative scheme.

CONCLUSION:

Thus in indexing there are pre- and post-coordinated indexing systems. There are some similarities and dissimilarities. It can be summed up as follows:

Similarities:

• The subject content has to be analyzed and then the standardized term has to be identified.
• In both types, the terms have to be co-ordinated.
• Both the systems involve the arrangement of the indexed cards in some logical order.

Differences:

• In input preparation
• Differences in access point
• Differences in arrangement
• Differences in search time
• Differences in browsability.

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Q.4 Describe thesaurus. Explain the importance of thesaurus in information retrieval with suitable examples.

In general usage, a thesaurus is a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning (containing synonyms and sometimes antonyms), in contrast to a dictionary, which provides definitions for words, and generally lists them in alphabetical order. The main purpose of such reference works is to help the user “to find the word, or words, by which [an] idea may be most fitly and aptly expressed” – to quote Peter Mark Roget, architect of the best known thesaurus in the English language.

Although including synonyms, a thesaurus should not be taken as a complete list of all the synonyms for a particular word. The entries are also designed for drawing distinctions between similar words and assisting in choosing exactly the right word. Unlike a dictionary, a thesaurus entry does not give the definition of words.

In library science and information science, thesauri have been widely used to specify domain models. Recently, thesauri have been implemented with Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS).

The word “thesaurus” is derived from 16th-century New Latin, in turn from Latin thēsaurus, which is the Latinisation of the Greek θησαυρός (thēsauros), “treasure, treasury, storehouse”. The word thēsauros is of uncertain etymology. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the term “thesaurus” was applied to any dictionary or encyclopedia, as in the Thesaurus linguae latinae (1532), and the Thesaurus linguae graecae (1572). The meaning “collection of words arranged according to sense” is first attested in 1852 in Roget’s title.

Mechanism of thesaurus construction:

Thesaurus structure and use
About thesauri / Jessica L. Milstead. – [s.l.] : Jelem, 2000. A brief introduction to what a thesaurus is, why an organisation may need one, and the process of thesaurus construction.

After the dot-bomb : getting Web information retrieval right this time / by Marcia J. Bates. – First Monday, volume 7, number 7, July 2002. In the excitement of the “dot-com” rush of the 1990’s, many Web sites were developed that provided information retrieval capabilities poorly or sub-optimally. Suggestions are made for improvements in the design of Web information retrieval in seven areas. Classifications, ontologies, indexing vocabularies, statistical properties of databases (including the Bradford Distribution), and staff indexing support systems are all discussed. – [Author’s abstract]

Art and architecture thesaurus / Toni Petersen, Director. 2nd ed. – New York ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1994. – 5 vols ; 28cm. – The thesaurus may be browsed online.

ASIS thesaurus of information science and librarianship / by Jessica L. Milstead. 150p. ISBN: 0-938734-80-6 Price: $35.00. Related fields such as computer science, linguistics, education, and economics are examined. The thesaurus includes over thirteen hundred preferred terms, 691 nonpreferred terms, and 37 facet indicators. Scope notes and definitions of ambiguous terms are given. Contains an alphabetical listing, a hierarchical listing, and a rotated (KWIC) listing.

Australian pictorial thesaurus (APT). – Sydney : State Library of New South Wales, 2000. – [Accessed 2000-11-04] “The purpose of the Australian Pictorial Thesaurus is to provide Australian terms for indexing Australian pictorial collections and a controlled vocabulary for searching across image databases on the Internet. It is intended that the APT will become a national standard for describing pictorial materials. All non-abstract topic terms are arranged hierarchically within five narrower terms [categories or tables: events & activities; ideas & concepts; manufactured objects; natural objects; people; places & structures]. Terms for abstract ideas and concepts are arranged following the Dewey Classification Scheme in a separate table [not available on the Web site]. The Australian Pictorial Thesaurus was developed through a joint project sponsored by the National Library of Australia, Australian Museums Online (AMOL) and led by the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL).”

Although constructed for the indexing of pictorial material, this is a well-structured general thesaurus of 15,000 terms arranged hierarchically which may be of use for any collection of objects and images. The “about APT” page gives sound and useful advice not only on the use of this thesaurus but on indexing using any thesaurus.

Structured vocabularies for information retrieval — Guide — Part 1: Definitions, symbols and abbreviations / British Standards Institution. – London : BSI, 2005. – 9p. ; 30cm. – (BS 8723-1:2005) – ISBN 0 580 46798 8. — Part 2: Thesauri / British Standards Institution. – London : BSI, 2005. – 59p. ; 30cm. – (BS 8723-2:2005) – ISBN 0 580 46799 6. — Part 3: Vocabularies other than thesauri / British Standards Institution. – London : BSI, 2007. – 44p. ; 30cm. – (BS 8723-3:2007) – ISBN 978 0 580 53862 9. — Part 4: Interoperability between vocabularies / British Standards Institution. – London : BSI, 2007. – 55p. ; 30cm. – (BS 8723-4:2007) – ISBN 978 0 580 53863 6. — Part 5: Exchange formats and protocols for Interoperability / British Standards Institution. – London : BSI, 2008. – 56p. ; 30cm. – (DD 8723-5:2008) – ISBN 978 0 580 53864 3. The preceding standards supersede: British standard guide to establishment and development of monolingual thesauri / British Standards Institution. – 1st rev. – London : BSI, 1987. – 32p ; 30cm. – (BS5723:1987) (ISO2788-1986) and British standard guide to establishment and development of multilingual thesauri / British Standards Institution. – London : BSI, 1985. – 63p ; 30cm. – (BS6723:1985) (ISO5964-1985). These standards have been revised by a Working Party of the British Standards Institution – Stella Dextre Clark (Convenor), Alan Gilchrist, Ron Davies and Leonard Will. The new standard is in five parts. Part 5 deals with data models for thesaurus structures and interchange formats for thesaurus data. As some of these formats are still under discussion and development, this part of the standard has been issued as a “Draft for development”, numbered DD872-5, rather than as a British Standard. A revised international standard, ISO 25964, based on this British Standard, is in preparation and is expected to be published in late 2010 or 2011.

British standard recommendations for examining documents, determining their subjects and selecting indexing terms / British Standards Institution. – London : British Standards Institution, 1984 . – 6p. ; 30cm. – (BS 6529:1984). BSI ROOT thesaurus. – 3rd ed. – Milton Keynes : British Standards Institution, 1988. – 2v ; 30cm. – ISBN 058016991x. Build yourself a thesaurus : a step by step guide / Elizabeth Orna. – Norwich : Running Angel, 1983. – 32p ; 30cm.

Classification criteria for historical astronomical instrumentation / F. Bònoli, M. Calisi and P. Ranfagni. – Atti del XVI Congresso Nazionale di Storia della Fisica e dell’Astronomia, Centro Volta, Villa Olmo, Como, 24 – 25 Maggio 1996 / a cura di Pasquale Tucci. A discussion of the problems of variant names for historical astronomical instruments and a suggested outline classification by function.

Classification of a subject field / Jack Mills. – In: Proceedings of the International Study Conference on Classification for Information Retrieval, Dorking, England, 13th-17th May 1957. – London : Aslib, 1957. – p.29-42.

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Q.5 Write short notes on the following:

Vocabulary Control

Controlled vocabularies provide a way to organize knowledge for subsequent retrieval. They are used in subject indexing schemes, subject headings, thesauri, taxonomies and other forms of knowledge organization systems. Controlled vocabulary schemes mandate the use of predefined, authorised terms that have been preselected by the designers of the schemes, in contrast to natural language vocabularies, which have no such restriction.

In library and information science, controlled vocabulary is a carefully selected list of words and phrases, which are used to tag units of information (document or work) so that they may be more easily retrieved by a search. Controlled vocabularies solve the problems of homographs, synonyms and polysemes by establishing a bijection between concepts and authorized terms. In short, controlled vocabularies reduce ambiguity inherent in normal human languages where the same concept can be given different names and ensure consistency.

For example, in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (a subject heading system that uses a controlled vocabulary), authorized terms—subject headings in this case—have to be chosen to handle choices between variant spellings of the same word (American versus British), choice among scientific and popular terms (cockroach versus Periplaneta americana), and choices between synonyms (automobile versus car), among other difficult issues. Choices of authorized terms are based on the principles of user warrant (what terms users are likely to use), literary warrant (what terms are generally used in the literature and documents), and structural warrant (terms chosen by considering the structure, scope of the controlled vocabulary). Controlled vocabularies also typically handle the problem of homographs with qualifiers. For example, the term pool has to be qualified to refer to either swimming pool or the game pool to ensure that each authorized term or heading refers to only one concept. There are two main kinds of controlled vocabulary tools used in libraries: subject headings and thesauri. While the differences between the two are diminishing, there are still some minor differences.

Z39.50 Protocol

Z39.50 is an international standard client–server, application layer communications protocol for searching and retrieving information from a database over a TCP/IP computer network. It is covered by ANSI/NISO standard Z39.50, and ISO standard 23950. The standard’s maintenance agency is the Library of Congress. Z39.50 is widely used in library environments, often incorporated into integrated library systems and personal bibliographic reference software. Interlibrary catalogue searches for interlibrary loan are often implemented with Z39.50 queries. Work on the Z39.50 protocol began in the 1970s, and led to successive versions in 1988, 1992, 1995 and 2003. The Contextual Query Language (formerly called the Common Query Language) is based on Z39.50 semantics.

American National Standard Institute (ANSI).

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has served in its capacity as administrator and coordinator of the United States private sector voluntary standardization system for more than 100 years. Founded in 1918 by five engineering societies and three government agencies, the Institute remains a private, nonprofit membership organization supported by a diverse constituency of private and public sector organizations. Throughout its history, ANSI has maintained as its primary goal the enhancement of global competitiveness of U.S. business and the American quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems and promoting their integrity. The Institute represents the interests of its more than 1,200 company, organization, government agency, institutional and international members through its office in New York City, and its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

National Standardization

ANSI facilitates the development of American National Standards (ANS) by accrediting the procedures of standards developing organizations (SDOs). These groups work cooperatively to develop voluntary national consensus standards. Accreditation by ANSI signifies that the procedures used by the standards body in connection with the development of American National Standards meet the Institute’s essential requirements for openness, balance, consensus and due process. ANSI is often asked about the total number of standards (and standards setting bodies) in the United States. It is estimated that in the U.S. today there are hundreds of “traditional” standards developing organizations – with the 20 largest SDOs producing 90% of the standards – and hundreds more “non-traditional” standards development bodies, such as consortia. This means that the level of U.S. participation is quite expansive as the groups themselves are comprised of individual committees made up of experts addressing the technical requirements of standards within their specific area of expertise. As of January 2018, some 237 standards developers were accredited by ANSI; there were more than 11,500 American National Standards. In order to maintain ANSI accreditation, standards developers are required to consistently adhere to a set of requirements or procedures known as the “ANSI Essential Requirements”, that govern the consensus development process. Due process is the key to ensuring that ANSs are developed in an environment that is equitable, accessible and responsive to the requirements of various stakeholders. The open and fair ANS process ensures that all interested and affected parties have an opportunity to participate in a standard’s development. It also serves and protects the public interest since standards developers accredited by ANSI must meet the Institute’s requirements for openness, balance, consensus and other due process safeguards.