CIS 3301 

       Abstracting, indexing and Thesaurus construction          (45 Hours)

Purpose: To equip the student with knowledge and skills in Indexing, abstracting and
Thesaurus construction.
Learning outcomes:
At the end of this course unit, the student should be able to:
• Index information materials
• Abstract information materials
• Construct the thesaurus
• Differentiate between abstracting and indexing journals
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting, Types of indexing: Coordinate indexing, author,
title, periodical, citation, chain, permuted term index and book index. Indexing Languages,
Functions of Indexes, Purpose of indexing, Indexing process, Indexing practicals .types of
abstracts, purpose and functions of abstracts, Abstracting process, Abstracting journals,
qualities of a good abstract, Factors affecting the length of abstracts, Evaluation of
abstracts, Automatic abstracting, Differences between indexing and abstracting journals,
Purpose of thesaurus, types of terms in a thesaurus, basic structure of thesaurus, parts of
a thesaurus, methodology for thesaurus construction, computer and the thesaurus, uses
of a thesaurus, Factors considered in the choice of a thesaurus, Qualities of a good
thesaurus,
Learning and Teaching Methodologies
Lectures, Tutorials, Practicals
Assessment
Examination 70%
Continuous Assessment 30%
Total 100%
Core Texts
1. Lancaster F. W. (2016) Indexing and abstracting in theory and practice. London: Facet
Publishing
2. Rowley Jennifer (2010) Abstracting and indexing .London: Bingley.
3. Wellisch Hans (2000) Indexing from A to Z. New York: H.W. Wilson.

References
1. Vanda B. (2013) Essential Thesaurus Construction. London Facet Publishing 
2. Bakewell, K. G. B (2004) Classification and indexing practice. London: Clive
Bingley Ltd,
3. Hart, Dharmendra (2017) Abstracting practices in libraries. New Delhi: Random Publications
4. Mulvany, Nancy C. (2006) Indexing books /. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
5. Lancaster, Wilfrid (2016) Indexing and abstracting in theory and practice. London : Facet
Publishing