Discovery of digital items by scholars and the public is highly dependent upon effective metadata to ensure inclusion and prioritization in search engines. Subject descriptions based on controlled vocabulary, such as Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH), are particularly useful to enhance discovery, but they may be expensive to provide. In…

Every academic institution contributes to knowledge. The generated information and knowledge is to be compiled at a central place and disseminated among the society for further growth. It is observed that the generated knowledge in the academic institute is not stored or captured properly. It is also observed that many a times generated…

This dissertation focuses on investigating whether users will locate desired images more efficiently and effectively when they are provided with information descriptors from both experts and the general public. This study develops a way to support image finding through a human-computer interface by providing subject headings and social tags about…

Although fiction plays a prominent role in the interdisciplinary field of medical humanities (MH), it is physically and intellectually isolated from non-fiction in academic health sciences libraries. Using the Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database (LAMD) as a tool for selection and subject analysis, we suggest a method of integrating fiction…

This volume is a compilation of the papers presented at the 10th ASIS (American Society for Information Science) workshop on classification research. Major themes include the social and cultural informatics of classification and coding systems, subject access and indexing theory, genre analysis and the agency of documents in the ordering of…

In this article, the author explains how librarians can ensure that their Web site visitors find the information they need. The pros and cons of four options used to help people find information on a Web site are explored. These options are: (1) redesigning the site; (2) creating drop-down, second-level menus for second-level pages; (3) adding a…

Discusses intellectual issues involved in the indexing of visual images, postulating that the indexing of images should provide access to images based on the attributes of those images and provide access to useful groupings of images. Four categories of image attributes are described, and issues to be considered in creating groups are discussed.…

Investigates the use of signature files in Chinese information retrieval systems and proposes a new partitioning method-called Partitioned Signature File for Chinese (PSFC)-based on the characteristics of Chinese words. Experimental results confirm the features of PSFC and demonstrate its superiority over the traditional single signature file…

Proposes methods to utilize image primitives to support term assignment for image classification. Proposes to release code for image analysis in a common tool set for other researchers to use. Of particular focus is the expansion of work by researchers in image indexing to include image content-based feature extraction capabilities in their work.…

This paper presents a summary of the policies and practices that have governed the accessioning and use of artifacts in the National Archives chiefly over the last decade, and it offers recommendations for the prospective relocation and utilization of artifacts at Archives II. The report is organized around three major headings: a treatment of the…

Discusses access to editorial cartoons, including the importance and worth of editorial cartoons; sources, including newspapers, museums, and special cartoon collections; indexing and classification; subject access; indexing by illustrator and subject; technology and access, including digital data; access to special collections; and access to…

This paper presents some of the efforts currently being made to develop mechanisms that can organize World Wide Web resources for efficient and effective retrieval, as well as programs that can accommodate multiple languages. Part 1 discusses structural approaches to organizing Web resources, including the use of hierarchical or…

Describes a project that examined textual information available on the Internet and potential means of providing access to this information. Highlights include an overview of Internet resources, a profile of a document sample, description of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites, and an automated method of categorizing files. (MES)

Discusses indexing and access to digital resources, especially on the Internet. Topics include subject searching versus indexing; multiple terms of access; folk classification; basic level terms; folk access; Bradford's Law; Zipfian distributions; vocabulary scalability; the Resnikoff-Dolby 30:1 Rule; domain-specific indexing; and implications for…

This discussion of the nature of classification schemes and their functions focuses on the differing classification systems of North American and European-type libraries. The functions are bibliothecal, bibliographical, and cognitive. The bibliothecal function concerns the physical location of items within a library (e.g., the Dewey Decimal and…