Page 202 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Unit 11: Indexing Language: Types and Characteristics

Characteristics of Indexing Language Notes

We have seen that the purpose of an indexing language is to express the concepts of documents in an
artificial language so that users are able to get the required information. The indexing language does
this by depicting the relationships among the different related concepts. Thus, an indexing language
consists of elements that constitute its vocabulary, rules for admissible expressions (i.e. syntax) and
semantics. An indexing language should, therefore, have:
• semantic structure
• syntactic structure
• syndetic structure.

Semantic Structure
Semantics refers to the aspects of meaning. In the context of an indexing language, two kinds of
relationships between concepts – hierarchical and non-hierarchical can be identified. The hierarchical
relationships may be Genus-Species and Whole-Part Relationships. The Non-hierarchical relationships
may be Equivalence or Associative relationships.
Hierarchical Relationships: It is a permanent relationship.
(a) Genus-Species (Example: Telephone is always a kind of Telecommunication)
(b) Whole-Part (Example: Human Body - Respiratory system)
(c) Instance (Example: Television - Phillips TV).
Non-Hierarchical Relationships: It may be of two kinds – Equivalence and Associate.
• Equivalence
Synonym (Example: Defects - Flaws)
Homonym (Example: Fatigue (of metals), Fatigue (of humans)
• Associate- It refers to the relationships in which concepts are semantically related but do not
necessarily belong to same hierarchy (e.g. Weaving and cloth).

Syntactic Structure
As you know the word syntax refers to grammar. In the context of indexing language syntax governs
the sequence of occurrence of terms in a subject heading viz., for the title export of iron, it may be Iron,
Export or Export, Iron.

Syndetic Structure
To show the relationships described at semantic structure, syndetic structure should be built in indexing
language (viz., see, see also; use, use for). Syndetic structure in the indexing language aims to link
related concepts otherwise scattered and helps to collocate related concepts. It guides the indexer and
the searcher to formulate index entries and to search for his/her information.

11.3 Vocabulary Control

Indexing may be thought of as a process of labeling items for future reference. Considerable order
can be introduced into the process by standardizing the terms that are to be used as labels. This
standardization is known as vocabulary control, the systematic selection of preferred terms. Lancaster
in 1986 suggests that the process of subject indexing involves two quite distinct intellectual steps:
The ‘conceptual analysis’ of the documents and ‘translation’ of the conceptual analysis into a
particular vocabulary. The second step in any information retrieval environment involves a
‘controlled vocabulary’, that is, a limited set of terms that must be used to represent the subject
matter of documents. Similarly, the process of preparing the search strategy also involves two stages:
conceptual analysis and translation into the language of the system.

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