INDEXING AND

ABSTRACTING

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 ROLES OF INDEX AND ABSTRACT

 abstract and indexes already in existence for more than 300

years in the field of
 social sciences and humanities; and
 science and technology.

 Indexing and abstracting are two approaches to distilling

information content into an abbreviated, but comprehensive,
representation of an information resource.

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 OBJECTIVES OF
INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING

 The main objective is to :

 build representatives to information materials that will be
published in a suitable form that can be fed in into a database.
 Surrogate = Representative

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 ABSTRACTS AND INDEXES FORMAT

 can be found
 Earlier, in card format
 E.g. library card catalog or manual OPAC.
 Later, in printed forms
 E.g. LISA/ Chemical Abstracts/ Engineering Index) in book form
 Now, electronic resources format that are machine readable
 E.g. LISA CD-ROM/Online Chemical Abstracts through
DIALOG/COMPENDEX, Index to Theses (Aslib)
 Now also, in the Web version
 LISAnet, FORENSICnetBASE, GeoBase, INSPEC

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 ABSTRACTING

 Abstracting is a process that consists of analyzing the

content of an information resource and then writing a
succinct summary or synopsis of that work.

 The length, style an detail of an abstract may vary

depending on its intended audience.

 It is not a review/interpret/ evaluate of the work, it is an

original document which consists the title of the abstracted
work and the summary text.

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 ABSTRACTING

 Abstracting is done by : authors, information professionals,

in-house or contractors of publishers.
 A tool to help the readers
 to identify
 to locate
 to evaluate and
 to make decision
 to a document content
 potential of its accuracy or relevancy
 of the document to the need of the readers

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 INDEX

 A tool that enable the readers

 to identify,
 to locate and
 to retrieve the documents that already
 organized, arranged, and stored
 through a process of indexing.
 Index can be considered valuable if the information and the
document can be traced satisfactorily.
 Process of indexing creates description of the
document/information.

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 GENERAL DEFINITION

 Index:
 A list, or catalogue for aiding reference, especially an alphabetized
listing in a printed work that gives the pages on which various
names, places and subjects are mentioned
 (Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary, 1984)

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 1. INDEX

 A systematic guide designed to indicate

 subjects, topics, or features of documents
 in order to facilitate their retrieval.
 Wellisch, Abstracting, indexing, classification, thesaurus
construction: a glossary

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 2. INDEX

 An index is a structured sequence

 resulting from a thorough and complete analysis of text
 of synthesized access points to all the information contained in the

text.

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 3. INDEX

 subject indexing is conceptually identical to subject

classification
 Membentuk kelas-kelas objek berdasarkan kandungan subjek =
forming classes of objects on the basis of their subject matter
 Mulvany, Indexing Books

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 4. INDEX

 Subject indexing involves two principal steps:

 Analsisi konsep = conceptual analysis
 Penterjemahan = translation.

 Lancaster, Indexing and Abstracting

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 5. INDEX

 “a systematic guide to items contained in or derived from a

collection”
 “items or derived concepts” are
 represented by entries
 arranged in known or stated searchable order
 such as alphabetical, chronological, or numerical.
 ANSI (AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTE 1968)

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 6. INDEX

 A systematic guide designed

 to indicate topics or features of documents
 in order to facilitate retrieval of
 documents or
 parts of documents

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 MAIN COMPONENTS OF INDEX

1. Terms
 representing the topics or features of
documentary units;
2. A syntax for
 combining terms into headings
 in displayed indexes or
 search statements
 in non-displayed indexes
 in order to represent compound or complex topics,
features, and/or queries

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 MAIN COMPONENTS OF INDEX

3. Cross-references / Other linking devices

 synonymous, equivalent, broader, narrower, and other related terms

4. A procedure for
 linking headings
 in displayed indexes or
 search statements
 in non-displayed indexes
 with particular documentary units or document surrogates

5. A systematic ordering of
 Headings (in displayed indexes) or
 A search procedure (in non-displayed indexes).

(NISO-TR02-1997, Guidelines for Indexes and Related Information Retrieval

Devices)

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 INDEXING

 is “the process of
 analyzing the informational contents of records of knowledge and
 expressing the informational content
 in the language of the indexing system”.

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 INDEXING

involves
 Selecting
 indexable concepts in a document
 Expressing these concepts
 in the language of the indexing system
 as index entries and ordered list

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 TYPES OF INDEXING

3 basic types of indexing:

 Back of the book indexing
 the index is a list of terms or terms phrase arranged alphabetically
with locator references that make it possible for the user to retrieve
the desired content.
 Language of the indexing terms derived from language of the text.

 Database indexing
 Also known as journal or periodical indexing.
 Each database item is represented by a set of descriptor terms and,
in some instances, a classification code.
 Used a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus to assign the appropriate
terms.

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 TYPES OF INDEXING

3 basic types of indexing:

 Back of the book indexing
 the index is a list of terms or terms phrase arranged alphabetically
with locator references that make it possible for the user to retrieve
the desired content.
 Language of the indexing terms derived from language of the text.

 Database indexing
 Also known as journal or periodical indexing.
 Each database item is represented by a set of descriptor terms and,
in some instances, a classification code.
 Used a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus to assign the appropriate
terms.

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 INDEXING SYSTEM

 is “the set of prescribed procedure

 manual and/or machine
 for organizing the contents of records of knowledge
 for purposes of retrieval and dissemination”.

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 TWO TYPES OF INDEXING SYSTEM

1. Pre-coordinate indexing system

 Gabungan entri indeks telah sedia ada
 Disediakan oleh pengindeks
 Indeks bercetak

2. Post-coordinate indexing system

 Gabungan entri indeks belum ada
 Dibuat sendiri oleh pengguna maklumat
 Indeks atas talian

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 INDEXING LANGUAGE

“all the words permitted either

 to describe a specific document or
 to construct a query to search a document file
along with the rules
 describing how the terms are to be used and
 in what relation to each other.
vocabulary of an indexing language is
 the list of words allowable in that indexing
language”.
How will my users look for this subject?

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 INDEXING LANGUAGES

 The language
 used to describe subject or
 other aspects of information or documents in an index.
 not the specific language use for communication or writing of the
document contents
 Three main categories
 Controlled indexing language (CIL)
 Free-text indexing language (FIL)
 Natural indexing language (NIL)
 All are possible for index construction.
 effective retrieval can be achieved by a combination of these
indexing language types.

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 1. CONTROLLED INDEXING LANGUAGES

 which fall subject headings lists and thesauri.

 Terms use is based on the controlled language as shown
in a list.
 indexer selects and assigns terms to documents in
accordance with this prescribed list of terms.
 terms listed in the accepted category may be
 form indicators or
 E.g. language
 type of document,
 mostly subject descriptors
 2. FREE-TEXT INDEXING LANGUAGES

 nature of a FIL
 any word or term
 that suits the subject
 assigned as an index term
 3. NATURAL INDEXING LANGUAGE

uses the language of the document.

one type of free-text language indexing.
Most NIL is based upon
 the language of title, abstract and other text of records.
Selection is simple
 no need for scanning and analysis of documents.
actively debated whether NIL leads to effective
retrieval
 TYPES OF MATERIAL TO BE INDEXED

 BOOKS
 PERIODICAL
 ARTWORKS
 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
 LIBRARY COLLECTION
 AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS
 MUSICAL RESOURCES
 ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
 INTERNET RESOURCES

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 LEVEL OF INDEXING

1. Word and name indexes

2. Book indexes
3. Periodicals indexes
4. Information retrieval system indexes

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 VARIOUS TYPES OF INDEXES:

Author indexes • First-line indexes

Alphabetic subject • Hypermedia indexes
indexes • Internet indexes
 also called inverted indexes
or • Multimedia indexes
 dictionary indexes • Periodical indexes
Book indexes • Permuted title indexes
Chain indexes • PRECIS indexes
Citation indexes
Classified indexes
• String indexes
Coordinate indexes
• Word indexes
Cumulative indexes
Faceted indexes

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 TWO KINDS OF INDEX

 GENERAL INDEX
 Meliputi banyak jenis bahan berkala umum atau khusus .
 SUBJECT INDEX
 Mengandungi bahan bukan sahaja dari bahan berkala tetapi juga
buku, risalah, laporan dan lain-lain dokumen.

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 QUALITY OF INDEXER

 Widely read
 Attention to detail
 Creative
 Ability to meet tight deadlines
 Flexible
 Enjoy solitude (generally a one- person job)

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 INDEX FORMATS

 Understand why corporations often produce better product

documentation than publishing houses
 Identify differences between online and run-in indexing styles
 Identify style considerations in the format and placement of
cross-references

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 REALITI PENGINDEKSAN

Tidak ada indeks yang sempurna = “perfect”

index
Keseragaman antara dan sesama pengindeks
= Inter- and intra-indexer consistency
 Indeks saya tidak akan sama dengan indeks saudara
= my index will be different from your index
Pentingnya mengindeks buah fikiran
pengarang mengikut bahasa pengarang
tersebut = indexing ideas of the author in
words of the author

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 INDEXER’S CHALLENGES

BASIC PROBLEM:
 All authors of a field of knowledge have individual
understanding of that field of knowledge, and
 they each have a unique way of expressing and writing about
that of a particular field of knowledge.

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 QUESTIONS INDEXERS HAVE TO ASK:

 subjects are covered by the documents?

 Aboutness
 What is the document about?
 important subjects that need to be indexed?

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 GOOD INDEXES
 Accurate
 Meet the needs of the readers
 Answer questions that have not yet been asked
 Mirror structure of text
 Clear layout

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 CIRI-CIRI INDEKS YANG BAIK
(GOOD INDEXES)
 Easy to read (good typography)
 Good syndetic structure (cross- references)
 ASI/H. W. Wilson Awards guidelines
http://www.asindexing.org/site/awards.shtml#awcrit

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 SCATTERING:

 Poor indexes
 those of low standard and quality
 have extensive scattering of “like entries” among “diverse headings” and
“various modifications”.
 Causes user to have to look under many different places in the index
to locate all relevant materials.

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 SCATTERING
Cat 3, 5, 11
Cats 5, 10
Domestic cats 16, 19
Feline 11
Lions 25, 29
Pussy-cat 16, 19
Siamese cats 17, 18
Tigers 30, 34, 45
Wild cats 20, 21

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 MAIN TERMINOLOGY

 Exhaustivity
 Recall
 Precise
 Posting
 Double-posting
 Posting-up
 Over indexing

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 COMPUTERIZED INDEXING

 Professional Software
 CINDEX
 MACREX
 Sky Professional
 They don’t index
 They arrange the index entries you create

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