Page 80 - DLIS405_INFORMATION_STORAGE_AND_RETRIEVAL

Unit 8: Indexing

Adequate representation of the material being described is the core challenge with indexing and Notes
abstracting. Another work that addresses this core issue is Explorations in Indexing and Abstracting:
Pointing, Virtue, and Power by Brian C. O’Connor. O’Connor defines “pointing” as the fundamental
definition of indexing; “virtue,” the essence of a work, as equal to abstracting; and the two tools
together as giving a person “power” to make meaningful use of the information.
Another related title, Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting by Donald B. Cleveland and Ana D.
Cleveland , is more practical than the other two titles in that it provides many examples of what is
being discussed and includes a section on “Ninety-nine Web Resources for Indexers and Abstractors,”
with leads to useful tools such as indexing services, standards, indexing organizations, and search
services. , One of the listed search services is a company working to answer Lancaster’s challenge
about the daunting task of indexing the Web. “The perfect search engine would understand exactly
what you mean and give back exactly what you want.” Many of the principles discussed in
Lancaster’s work— precision, specificity, and depth of indexing—are just as applicable and essential
in today’s online world as companies like Google seek to develop the “perfect search engine’’.

Find the latest trends in indexing in India.

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
1. The ...... document may be indexed differently by different indexers.
(a) Different (b) Same (c) None of these.
2. The indexing is ...... to the document if it is constructed by a set of terms selected mechanically
from the document.
(a) Close (b) Open (c) None of these.
3. ......, the practice in this library is that a given book is circulated to different subject
bibliographers.
(a) First (b) Second
(c) Third (d) Fourth.

8.1 Indexing Development

An index is a list of words or phrases (‘headings’) and associated pointers (‘locators’) to where useful
material relating to that heading can be found in a document. In a traditional back-of-the-book index
the headings will include names of people, places and events, and concepts selected by a person as
being relevant and of interest to a possible reader of the book. The pointers are typically page numbers,
paragraph numbers or section numbers. In a library catalogue the words are authors, titles, subject
headings, etc., and the pointers are call numbers.

8.1.1 Indexing Process

Conventional Indexing
The indexer reads through the text, identifying indexable concepts (those for which the text provides
useful information and which will be of relevance for the text’s readership). The indexer creates index
headings, to represent those concepts, which are phrased such that they can be found when in
alphabetical order (so ‘indexing process’ rather than ‘how to create an index’). These headings and

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