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Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting » (3rd Edition)

Book cover image of Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting by Donald B. Cleveland

Authors: Donald B. Cleveland, Ana D. Cleveland, Ana D. Cleveland, Ana D. Cleveland
ISBN-13: 9781563086410, ISBN-10: 1563086417
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: ABC-Clio, LLC
Date Published: November 2000
Edition: 3rd Edition

Author Biography: Donald B. Cleveland

DONALD B. CLEVELAND is Professor, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton.

ANA D. CLEVELAND is Professor, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton.

Book Synopsis

Based on new research and years of practical experience, this guide presents the basic knowledge necessary to become a professional indexer. Synthesizing the thinking and experience of indexers and abstractors over the years, the book introduces readers to such fundamentals as the nature of information, the organization of information, vocabulary control, types of indexes and abstracts, evaluation of indexing, and the use of computers. A new chapter on indexing and the Internet has been added, as has a chapter that lists Web resources for indexers and abstractors. The work concludes with a discussion of the education, training, and job opportunities of the profession, as well as a look to the future. With its simple but thorough approach, this book provides readers with a broad overview of the professions, processes, and art of indexing and abstracting.

Booknews

Presents knowledge to become a professional indexer or to maintain expertise. Coverage includes fundamentals of the nature of information, organization of information, vocabulary control, types of indexes and abstracts, steps in the indexing/abstracting processes, evaluation of indexing, and use of electronic resources. New to this edition are explanations of indexing software types, specific software packages, indexing and the Internet, and sections on metadata, Dublin Core, and OCLC CORC. Ninety-nine web resources for indexers and abstractors are organized into 15 categories including online bookstores, search services, indexing services dictionaries and dictionary directories, multi-reference resources, e-mail reference sites, standards, and indexing-related discussion groups. A new section discusses the burgeoning field of image indexing. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface	xiii
Chapter 1	Introduction	1
	Making an Index	1
	The Need for Indexes	2
	The Nature of Indexes	4
	Makers of Indexes	5
	A Brief Historical Perspective	6
	A Note to the Neophyte Indexer	9
Chapter 2	The Nature of Information	11
	The Information Age	11
	A Natural Phenomenon	13
	The Study of Information	18
	A Basic Resource	18
	Mechanisms for Information Preservation and Transmittal	19
Chapter 3	The Organization of Information	22
	The Information Cycle	22
	The Basic Information Retrieval Model	23
	The Information Is Created and Acquired for the System	24
	Knowledge Records Are Analyzed and Tagged by Sets of Index Terms	26
	The Knowledge Records Are Stored Physically and the Index Terms Are Stored into a Structured File	26
	The User's Query Is Tagged with Sets of Index Terms and Then Is Matched Against the Tagged Records	27
	Matched Documents Are Retrieved for Review	27
	Feedback May Lead to Several Reiterations of the Search	28
	Classification and Indexing	29
	The Relationship of Indexing, Abstracting, and Searching	31
	Using Indexes and Abstracts	33
Chapter 4	Vocabulary Control	35
	The Purpose of Controlled Vocabulary	35
	The Nature of Indexing Languages	37
	Authority Lists	38
	Generic Vocabularies	39
	The Thesaurus	40
	Thesaurus Construction	41
	Term Relationships	43
	Term Forms	45
	Thesaurus Evaluation	46
Chapter 5	Types of Indexes and Abstracts	48
	Types of Indexes	48
	Alphabetical Indexes	48
	Author Indexes	49
	Book Indexes	49
	Citation Indexes	49
	Classified Indexes	51
	Coordinate Indexes	51
	Cumulative Indexes	51
	Faceted Indexes	51
	First-line Indexes	52
	Hypermedia Indexes	52
	Internet Indexes	52
	Multimedia Indexes	53
	Periodical Indexes	53
	Permuted Title Indexes	54
	String Indexes	54
	Word Indexes	55
	Types of Abstracts	55
	Indicative Abstracts	56
	Informative Abstracts	57
	Critical Abstracts	57
	Classifying Abstracts by Use	58
	Classifying Abstracts by Author	58
	Structured Abstracts	59
	Examples from Indexing Tools	61
	Examples from Abstracting Tools	74
	Examples of Thesauri	91
Chapter 6	The Indexing Process	97
	Aboutness	98
	Steps in Indexing	99
	Recording of Bibliographic Data	100
	Content Analysis	101
	The Title	101
	The Abstract	101
	The Text Itself	102
	The References Section	102
	Some Key Points	103
	Subject Determination	103
	Locators	104
	Term Selection	104
	Entry Points	104
	Depth of Indexing	105
	Exhaustivity	105
	Specificity	106
	Making Choices	106
	Display of Indexes	107
Chapter 7	The Abstracting Process	108
	The Purpose of an Abstract	108
	Coverage	109
	Economic Constraints	109
	Significant Material	109
	Publication Source	109
	Subject Interest of the Users	110
	Steps in Abstracting	110
	Step 1	110
	The Title	110
	The Author	111
	Author Affiliation	111
	Funding Agency	111
	Publication Source	112
	Foreign Languages	113
	Other Information	113
	Step 2	113
	Step 3	115
	Step 4	117
	Step 5	117
	Editing	118
	Evaluation of Abstracts	119
	The Writing Process	119
Chapter 8	Indexing and Abstracting a Document	121
	Example of a Technical Paper	121
	Abstracting the Document	129
	Indexing the Document	131
Chapter 9	Book Indexing	137
	The Nature of Book Indexes	137
	Steps in Indexing	139
	Step 1	139
	Step 2	139
	Step 3	139
	Step 4	139
	Step 5	139
	Index Terms	140
	Name Entries	142
	Subject Entries	144
	Additional Details	145
	Ninety-Nine "Dos-and-Don'ts"	146
Chapter 10	Book Indexing Example	150
	Example Book Chapter	150
	Indexing the Chapter	160
Chapter 11	Indexing Special Subject Areas and Formats	165
	Background	165
	Special Subject Areas	166
	Science	166
	Social Sciences	168
	Humanities	169
	Special Formats	171
	Newspapers	171
	Nonprint Forms	174
	Images	174
Chapter 12	Evaluation of Indexing	179
	Background	179
	The General Problem	180
	Beginning with the User	182
	Relevance	183
	Recall and Precision	185
	Effects of Exhaustivity and Specificity	187
	Index Quality	187
	Evaluating Abstracts	189
	Standards	189
	Editing	190
Chapter 13	Indexing and Abstracting Services	192
	Background	192
	Bringing in the Computers	193
	Types of Databases	194
	Online Services	195
	Searching the Database	196
	The Future	199
Chapter 14	The Use of Computers	200
	The Computer Tool	200
	The Script	204
	Indexing with a Computer	206
	Types of Indexing Software	207
	Indexing Software	209
	Automatic Indexing and Abstracting	211
	Indexing	211
	Abstracting	213
Chapter 15	Indexing and the Internet	215
	Background	215
	Searching the Web	216
	Organization of Information	220
	Metadata and the Web	223
	Dublin Core	224
	OCLC CORC	226
	CORC Resource Record Database	226
	CORC Authority Database	226
	CORC Pathfinder Database	226
	CORC Web Dewey	226
	Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)	227
	Summary	227
	Promises and Pitfalls	228
Chapter 16	Ninety-Nine Web Resources for Indexers and Abstractors	231
	Online Bookstores	231
	Search Services	232
	Indexing Services	233
	Dictionaries and Dictionary Directories	234
	Multireference Resources and Tools	234
	E-Mail Reference Sites	236
	Virtual Libraries	237
	Special Formats and Subjects Indexing	238
	Standards	238
	Indexing Software	239
	Publishers	239
	Indexing Organizations	240
	Indexing-Related Discussion Groups	240
	Indexing and the Web	241
Chapter 17	The Profession	242
	Education and Training	242
	Job Opportunities	243
	The Role of Research	245
	The Future	249
	The Final Word	249
	Glossary	251
	Bibliography	261
	Index	277