CHAPTER 4 Human Language and the | Communication of Information } INTRODUCTION48 Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting \we refer to as information is expressed in human language of some form, for ‘example, text idio and video media with soundtracks, and so forth. a common tool to many disciplines, and there is certainly potential for this analysis in the library and information science fields (Paolillo 2010). Crystal said we should think of an indexing language as having a gram- mar, because, as a restricted la has its own rules. Just as make it their business to explicitly formalize these rules for natural lan- guages, so do indexers for their indexing language. A good grammar for any language should contain all the rules that govern the structuring of that Janguage and should be able to explain everything that can be done with the scan be extended to the creation of indexing languages (Crystal 1984). Problems of language are inseparable from the indexing pro- cess. Indexing is about harnessing the power and complexity of human lan- guage to make information and knowledge effectively and efficiently acces- sible, The tools, methods, and applications of indexing involye in some way the manipulation of language, both using its power of communication and in controll inconsistencies and redundancies. Language is a prod- uct and tool of the human mind, and itis useful for an indexer to understand some of the fundamentals of the relationship between the human brain, lan- guage, and transfer of information, especially in the indexing processes. Clearly, such understanding is fundamental to indexing research and prac- tice, This chapter will examine some these topics as a foundation for what follows in subsequent chapters. ‘THE HUMAN BRAIN The brain processes that humans go through when indexing and absteact- ge and the complex way language knowledge bases (Meyers 20 ‘The brain is the center of processing information fro1 instructions to keep the body correctly. It is processing achievements. ‘The brain’s information proces fhemical information. else starts to vacuum. You turn the n it. Your brain works along with yo ‘Human Language and the Communication of Information 49 of the vacuum cleaner in the background and selects the TV program. The information your brain wants (commanded by you) is coming from the TV, not from the vacuum cleaner. The selectivity of the brain makes it capable of enabling a little information to go a long way. Information is often incomplete, so the brain fills in gaps or extends it, often without your conscious knowledge. It's like a scientist creating a hypothesis from partial information chat seems to form a certain pattern. Selectivity is at the heart of indexing on many levels. In a sense, the indexer must select and filter the appropriate concepts from a back- ground of “noise” ina document. If we can understand how the brain selects, information we may be able to improve indexing systems and the process and perhaps be better able to program computers to aid in the indexing activity. UNDERSTANDING PATTERNS: PERCEPTION AND CLASSIFICATION Perception and classification of objects and ideas are fundamental to the functioning of the brain, Parallel to this, perception and classification of objects and ideas are fundamental to the indexing process. Perce yment and it gets this information through its senses. Perception is the act of making something meaningful from patterns in sensory information. It is largely a matter of matching patterns. It can be viewed as part of a four-step process: (1) we sense; (2) we select; (3) we per- ceives and (4) then we understand. Scientists studying perception are concerned with how we acquire infor- mation and knowledge about our world through the action of our sensory interaction with our brains, They study the human senses, touch, and taste. For people with normal vision, sight is the dominant sense, accounting for about two-thirds of everything they know. Our brains have areas devoted to each sense. Those areas include neurons that receive and process sensory input, Every waking moment our brain is swamped with sensory information from our eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue. It with past experiences Jassification, or the arrangement of similar things tegories. Classi as human thought and a ved with a new idea or physi50 Introduction to Inc ing: and Abstracting: ‘The information that comes in through the sensory organs is quickly scanned by the brain, which looks for patterns. It attempts to match patterns that are aleeady stored. If there is nota match, it selects certain information for furthet processing. Unselected formation at this point is lost (Farrow 1995). Ie appears that the brain uses categories and hierarchies to organize knowledge. Structured knowledge is much easier to manage than unstruc- tured knowledge (Farrow 1995). Our minds expect everything to belong in some class. With everything we sense, our brains quickly identify a sm: group of known things that are similar to the new sensation, Out of the thousands of possible categories, we quickly find one where the sensation belongs, and that helps us to understand it retrieving organized information, or knowledge. Memory moves that knowledge to the areas of the brain where itis needed for carrying out some mental action, such as controlling, leg to kick a rock or controlling the voice to sing a son Our minds are by chemicals and are often very valuable for su can influence a person to avoid or get away These basic brain processes influen: processes. All of the concepts discussed ne into play in the indexing processes. Perhaps when we fully understand the human brain, and how it manages cognitive events, we can use this knowledge to design indexing systems. are usually carried , for example, DEFINING LANGUAGE ‘The basic challenge the indexer faces is ‘complexities that influence the indexing proc: definitions of language have been proposed Language is 2 symbolic system used information, This in ‘guages used in technological devices such as computer systems, Language is the expressing of ideas by means of sp combined into words. Words are combi from this come ideas and thoughts. Language is @ system of arbitrary vocal symbols b social group cooperates. The American Heritage Dic language as the “use by human beings of voi written symbols that represent these sounds, in organized and patterns to express and communicate thoughts (American Heritage Dictionary 2011) Human Language and the Communication of Information, 5 n languages are roughly equal in complexity and in difficulty of 2. There is no such thing as a primitive language, even if it has n in an illiterate or so-called primitive culture. Iris incorrect to e crate or so-called primitive peoples are less struc y, and less efficient than the languages of literate, logically advanced civilizations. suage, no matter the cultural or social setting, of the place in the J, enables people to exchange information, to express feelings and emo- and to influence the activities of others. ‘The evolution of language caused a giant leap in humankind’ ability to organize into socicties. THE RISE OF HUMAN LANGUAGE Language is certainly one of the areas where human brains are more developed than the brains of other creatures. Some other animals, for exam whales and porpoises, seem to have developed a language of some sort. hut human language is more complex, and that makes it possible for people to share more complex ideas. prior language ability is one of the things that make us human. We are what we are, as a society, because of our high-level ability to formulate rughts, convey them to others, and record these thoughts for generations to come (Caplan 1995). The vast majority of our activities as human ace vowered by language. In a sense, language is code, albeit, a very specific and special kind of code. This code can be expressed as sounds (verbal communication) or symbols (writen communication). As Caplan pointed out, in verbal language the communication sources are the action of numerous body parts such as the mouth, jaw, tongue, and other parts so that “we produce about three words per second or one sound every tenth of a second on average. Yet we only make about one sound error per million sounds and one word error per mi ion words” (Caplan 1995), Language is a tool that people use to understand and shape their minds. It is not a physical tool like a hammer, but an int that evolved along with the human brain. Many animals communicate basic ideas with sounds and gestures, but humans have gone much further. It is probably fair to say that humans would not be the dominant species on Earth if we hadn't found ways to express complex ideas in words. Today, many of the most important human technologies inv ‘We use language to pass information to each other. When language first developed as speech, we communicated only to people nearby at the sment we spoke. Today’s technology makes it possible to speak to people anywhere in the world (or out of this world, lik ‘orbit or those who may someday go to Mars or beyond).Ba Introduetion to Indexing and Abstracting. Because of written language and recording devices, we with people who are not yet born. If this book is successful who was born after 2012, when we are writing this sentence, may someday read it. ‘We can’t communicate wi cate with us. William Shakesp important ideas (and wonder! swrote them. The development of written language and, more recently, other ways to preserve spoken information is indeed a remarkable achievement. It enables ‘many minds to work together even if they are not in the same time and place. How human language began remains a mystery. Scientists have many ideas hut no direct evidence, so there is plenty of room for speculation. Lan- guage certainly increased the chance for early humans to survive in a com petitive world. Being able to exchange clear and detailed information made it easier for them to work together. Cooper: nproved their ability to find food, and, equally important, enabled them to avoid becoming food for predators. Language also gave our early ar past events and about what might happe for them to plan and to think abstract Besides having a spoken language, humans the dead, but many of them stil] communi- re died in 1616, but his plays st y tragic or comic stories) centuries after he walls of ancient caves that seem to tell stories. It is easy to imagine this scenario: Hunters go out of a cave, follow and spear a beast, and bring it back for everybody in the tribe to share. An artist records these events on the wall of the cave, The cave drawings give story- tellers something to show while passing down tribal legends. For at least 5,000 years, the only recorded communication was by pic~ tures, Then came a great innovation: written language. People began using symbols or shapes other than pictures to represent words and sounds of their language. Using hieroglyphics and alphabets, they expressed both concrete the world this breakthrough in many different and abstract ideas. No one is sure where occurred, Ie may have happened at about the same regions, ng, it became pos lence of written recordkeeping is in Sumer Egyptian and Sumer writings from that period lets and papyrus. and India, recordkeeping became a part of society around 2,000 inese and Indian writings show that they recognized the records to an orderly society. Their laws required all ded and authorized, They also virths, marriages, and deaths. Human Language and the Communivation of Information 63 Creating and preserving records was a giant step forward. They could ‘nove record important events and agreements between friends or Businesspeople, government workers, religious officials, and scholars creating written records on a daily basis, and they needed a way to them for future access. In fact, it was in these early times that the first tracts were created for aiding recovery of the written information. Every working day the indexer and abstractor deals with the intricacies d structure of language when making decisions and selecting the best sur- gates for the knowledge items they are working with, Much more research ts needed on the relationships with how language works and how the lexer uses its power to create information discovery tools for the modern formation seekers, HOW LANGUAGE WORKS Language is a remarkable device for transferring information. It gives humans the ability to cooperate and to use knowledge developed over long periods of time. It has enabled us to create technologies that help us thrive almost anywhere in the world. Language allows us to process information and to interact with each other in many ways. Because of written and spoken language, we have developed technologically advanced cultures. Language connects words and sentences to create meaning in our heads. Like any code, a language has certain elements that make it work. Those cle- nts include sentence structure and grammar. The basic unit of age is the word. Physically, a word is a patte may take many forms, including: vibrations scratches on a rock; electromagnetic waves trav directions of magnetism in tiny regions in our mol Each individual word has a meaning or function, but the greatest v of language is the ability to convey more complex ideas by putting words ether in sentences. Each language has its own set of grammatical rules, although there are many similarities in the rules across all languages. Those similarities are clues to the way the human brain’s language center works. For example, every language has the same parts of speech: nouns, for per~ sons, places, or things verbs for actions; adjectives for describing qualities of nouns; adverbs for describing qualities of verbs; and so forth. Grammar is the set of rules for correctly speaking and writing a ‘guage. Syntax is a part of grammar. The rules of syntax determine the way words are strung together in a sentence. Semantics is the meaning of the words. For example, bear may mean “to put up with something unpleasant.” But bear may also mean “a big, hairy animal. nd 2010, 9)54 Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting Grammar is a very sophisticated information device. It allows out brains to accept messages but to screen out noise. Language is more than sounds, and words are not to be regarded as merely sequences of syllables. Gram- matical forms and grammatical structures plus knowledge of vocabulary add up to meaning. Looking at that another way, the meaning of any sentence comes from two sources: the meanings of its words, called semantics; and the structural or grammatical meaning of the sentence itself, called syntax, The two sen- tences, “The lion ate the leopard” and “The leopard ate th have the ‘exact same five words, but the sentences have different meanings—especially to the leopard and the lion. This is what grammar does for us. When think- ing about the relations between linguists and indexing, grammar, including syntax and semantics, come to mind first. OTHER ELEMENTS OF MEANING Language exists to communicate, but language, gestures, and postures also con usually involves at least two parties in sight of meaning is conveyed by facial expression, ‘move- ment. Phone conversations are less effective than face-to-face discussions because they lack the visual elements, but at least the tone of voice comes loud and clear. rm peter commusteaon eat wien you ne to comey great deal of information, as in a book, but itis the least effective way to create a connec- tion between the people who are trying to communicate. A letter or a text message carties no body language, facial expressions (except for “emoti- is“ ), or tone of v All animals obtain and respond to information from their environment. Even primitive organisms receive stimuli from light sources and chemical changes. Birds send different signals to communicate a warning or interest in mating, Ants and bees let each other know where food and nectar can be found. Clearly these creatures’ brains do not have the information-processing flexibility that human language has. The very special thing about language is its power and versatility. It allows us to deal with the past and the future, the present and the absent, the concrete and the abstract. ge can be viewed as the fascinating key to human thought and the ian personality. It reflects what we are. Language is a complex i its exact usage is unique to each individual. Although we ne of us speaks it exactly the same way. What we structure of our brain, what experiences we have vironment has been, and, of course, the mystical ‘creativi Because speaking h other, a great deal of Human Language and the Communication of Information 55, The knowledge, thoughts, and ideas of an author are encoded into ‘guage and input into a computer. The channel in this case is the pu of the book. The author's messages pass through many people and are finally received by the reader of the book. Language is nature’s basic communica- tion system for humans and is an excellent example of Shannon’s communi- cation model. For example, the source in the model might be the author of the book before it became a book. Finally, the reader opened the book and began to read. Word by word the reader’s brain decoded the language. Now the thoughts of the author are being shared with the reader. The author is the source and the reader is the destination in the Shannon model. Lan- guage is the communication tool they both use (Cleveland 2010). But what determines that unique structure of our brain and our creative inclinations? By now, you know the answer: information, The complexity of the brain and our lack of in-depth understanding of how it functions make it difficult to research mental processes involved in indexing. The problem is that we have not learned how to measure, or quan- tify, objectively exactly what happens when an indexer is involved in the various steps of indexing (Wellisch 1991). Until we are able to do that, cules based on brain function will remain very elusive. With imaging technology, such as functional MRI (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), new frontiers are opening up in understanding the brain, and indexers owe it to the profession to be on top of this research, especially in the areas of how the brain processes language. Indexing and abstracting have exciting discoveries to be made. LANGUAGE, THINKING, AND INDEXING ‘Three major tools of interest in the process of organizing information are subject analysis, classification, and indexing, which are related to three important theoretical components: (1) the structure of knowledge, (2) the aboutness of an information item, and (3) the complexities involved in using human language as a tool, The challenges of language in organizing and accessing information have been known since classical times. Traditional textual indexing depends sreatly on understanding and using human language. Blair noted that infor- ‘mation retrieval, especially the retrieval of documents and other textual formation, is really a linguistic process. He says that at a minimum we have to describe what we want and try to match that with the description that has becn attached to the source and56 Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting ance of language to indexing has a number of major aspects (1) the organization of know! sions, and (3) the representational components and their connect are related to the conn f the object being indexed to the world’s view of the meanings invol ks between language and men- tic knowledge” (Chierchia and MeConnel The concept of aboutness, usually expressed in natural language, is a con~ cern of indexing, both as a theoretical concept and in applications. Clearly, language is a communication tool, both the language used by the creator of the information and the language used by the indexer to interpret and con- vey this aboutness to the user of an index. Chapter 10 will discuss the con- cept of aboutness and its importance to the indexing process. ‘Teying to sort out the intricacies of how thoughts, words, and things are selated to each other has been a recurring problem as long as scholarly endeav- ors have existed. For example, Plato didn’t believe it was possible (or even desir- able) for language tocver have words that would mean exactly the same thing to everybody forever, becau changing (Campbell 1998). As Plato most surely under his is only the beginning of the problem. ‘A number of basic issues arise with language use when indexing, Some of these issues are: synonyms homographs syntax accuracy (exact word meaning) up to date (current word use) Synonyms are among the most troubling issues. The richness of the lan- guage allows a wide choice of words to express si slightly different shades of meaning. Many linguists believe there are no true synonyms. Users may have their personal perception of the meaning of words, as does the indexer. ‘Homographs are not a problem in meaning, but must be identified in con- what they are. In natural language, synta being transferred and lexer must also take into account and current usage of the words found in the message being conveyed. All Of these language issues, among others, must be taken into consideration in the indexing process (Chu 2003} Use of language is often in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes we can agree on the meaning and usage of a word, but in accordance with stances, we still may not have the same criteria for its apy 2003). This gap may occur among indexers and between indexers and users ‘Human Language and the Communication of Information 87 appropris of these areas. SEMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS covers the study of the meanings embedded in natural language expressions, including the idea that common expressions we use are often not reflected ind ‘When the indexer begins to index a critical assumption is made: that the ‘meaning of the author can be successfully matched with the indexing terms be selected. In other words, the meaning of the words in the text and the meaning of the assigned indexing terms are the same, Itcan be taken fone more step in that the searcher the search terms selected. This is a ing problem. Accord intended mi yrder, and itis the crux of the index- is mirror synergy of the major weakness in the information problem has been augmented because ple, and institutions is seriously affected by subject area, culture, and the pri- mary language of the authors of the documents, the indexers, and the end- users. Language isa fluid, dynamic human communication tool, with 2 com- plexity that is difficult to control. Seman ionships are inks between concepts or sets of concepts. Our minds are b ns. In our thinking processes, ideas are linked together, influenced by incoming stimulus and stored memo- i relationships are an intrinsic part of the logical structure in (Khoo and Na 2006). Teaco ont sof vocabulary control. According to Khoo and Na, twentieth-century information retrieval focused on terms, especially nouns, and concepts. We seem to be approaching the limit of what term-based and concept-based approaches can accomplish ... We believe that natural language processing andvduetion to Indexing and Abstracting ic relations, in particular, point the way forward for information n the 21st century. (Khoo and Na 2006, 206-207) COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND INDEXING rt nattenti In recent years the indexing profession has, n to cognitive sci- ence as an interdisciplinary domain of great importance to indexing, Afzal and Thompson pointed out thar the “Emergence of cognitive science as a dis- tinct field of study has leftan important impact on various disciplines including information science” (Afval and Thompson 2011, 18). Understanding cogni- tive processes can bea gateway to understanding the indexing process and per- haps a path to forming some kind of theoretical foundation for indexing. ‘Cognitive science deals with the human mind and how it processesinforma- tion, For example, one area of study in cognitive science focuses on knowledge and the processing of language, which is clearly of importance to information science in general and to indexing in particular. Other areas of cognitive sci- ence of interest to indexing are information processing, computer-human interaction, data representation and retrieval, among others. ‘Cognitive science can give us insights into how humans manipulate infor- mation and how the brain carries out cognitive tasks. This knowledge can be applied to many tasks in the management of informati ng how to index and abstract, and in the related areas of how users seek, access, and uuse information, Several schools of information encourage students to take a course in cognitive science, and some even have cognitive science courses in their own course inventories, Indexing is more than an occupational skill Itexists within a greater framework of an intellectual domain. Understanding the cognitive processes that deal with semantic relation- ships may hold a key to understanding how indexing is done and how users use indexes. It is impossible to separate indexing from language, the cogs tive processing of language, and how the mind deals with semantic relation- ships. We need to know more about it. CHAPTER SUMMARY Indexing and abstracting cannot be separated from language and the cogni- ‘Many of the topics discussed and the issues raised in the I be closely related to the nature and use of language. Campbell quoted a passage from Alice in Wonderland ‘to any discussion of the problems associated with lan- age and the Communicatio ‘mation 59 Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Du that is all.” pty, “which is to be master— — Lewis Carroll (Campbell 1998) REFERENCES Afual, Wassem, and Kim M. Thompso: Information Science: An Analytic: ies 47, no.l (2011): 18-23, American Heritage Dictionary. Sth ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 ; David C. “Information Retrieval and the Philosophy of Language.” Anviual Review of Information Science and Technology 37, no. 1 (2003): 3-50, liver, Kent A. Spacki ts, Words, and Things -al Informatics Association 5, “Contributions of Cognitive Science to mopsis.” Emporia State Research Stud- ‘Mahoney Neuroscience Institute pulwww.lims.harvard.edu/hmnif 'SLang.huml. rot. Meaning and Gra nto Sentantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990. Chu, Hering. Information Representation and Retrieval in the Digital Age. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2003. 2m Wonders of Communication. Books, 2010. Crystal, David. “Linguistics and Indexing.” Indever 14, no. 1 (April 1984): 3-7. Farrow, John D. “Indexing as a cognitive process.” In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science $3, suppl. no. 16, edited by Allen Kent, 155-171, New York: Marcel Dekker, 1995. Hiorland, Birger. “Semantics and Knowledge Organization, Information Science and Technology 41, n0. 1 (2007): 36 mar: An Intro- jinneapolis, MN: Annual Review of Paolillo, John C. “Linguistics and the Information Sciences.” In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd ed., edited by Marcia J. Bates and Mary Niles Mack, 3468-3478. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2010. Wellisch, Hans H. Indexing from A to Z, New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1991