An intermediate lexicon is described that employs a technique which allows, for a given subject area, the automatic translation of subject indexing from one indexing scheme into another. The lexicon was structured according to the principles of faceted classification and contained approximately 1,000 entries covering the field of library and…

The criticisms made against chain indexing are reviewed, and PRECIS briefly considered as a possible (but improbable) general substitute for indexing. The failures of chain indexing arise mainly from an overemphasis on generic relationships. The use of symbols to represent relations between terms is suggested for the chain index. (80 references)…

The four chapters included in this report are based on LINCS project activities undertaken since 1968, with an emphasis on indexing tools in the language sciences and related problems. Chapter one, "Indexing Tools for the Language Sciences: Methodology," discusses the development of a LINCS thesaurus and its role in the LINCS network.…

The author describes a method of automatic indexing using the assignment of priority to verbs which may also be viewed as a simulation of how a person classifies documents. (15 references) (Author/SJ)

Designed for use with a computer-produced subject index, PRECIS assigns clerical procedures in subject heading work to computer programs. The subject headings represent a unique combination of several different characteristics, permitting several coextensive forms of a subject name for each work. Final choice amongst alternatives is made by the…

The field of education serves as the basis for this discussion on the use of categories in a thesaurus for information processing and documentation purposes. The author briefly shows how a number of writers concerned with the structure of the field of education, as well as makers of classification schemes, have commented on the value of setting up…

The question is asked: Of index terms assigned to documents, which function most effectively in retrieval, the most used or popular terms, or those which are used relatively infrequently? The experiment is a retrieval experiment and uses the Cranfield-Salton data. (14 references) (Author)

The utilization of all or most of the different possibilities to find prescribed descriptors, identifiers or new index terms in thesauri is aided by using a flow chart which is applicable to most indexing aids--thesauri or subject heading lists. (9 references) (Author)

The problem of determining the optimal cross-reference structure for a given index and for a given community of users is discussed. A cross-reference structure is represented as a graph in which the nodes are index terms and the links are relations between index terms. In order to clarify the concept of 'level of cross-referencing' the…

This new edition has the same purpose as its predecessors; i.e., to provide language which can process information relating to all aspects of economic and social development, and, at the same time, give a common dimension to the more specific vocabularies corresponding to each of them. However, it differs from previous editions on five major…

The major topics included in this paper are: thesaurus structure, later developments, functions of thesauri, keyword list generation, compatibility, and maintenance and updating. (NH)

This is the fifth in a series of eight reports of a research study for the National Agricultural Library (NAL) on the effective utilization of bibliographic data bases in machine readable form. NAL desires ultimately to develop techniques of interacting with other data bases so that queries put to NAL may be answered with documents or document…

The growth of indexing services has emphasized the need for more knowledge of the indexing process itself. Consistency is necessary for continuing progress in the field. This study postulates that: (1) definitions of indexer consistency should consist of the indexer's perception of indexable concepts and his choice of terminology; (2) both parts…

The relative retrieval efficiency of the title searching technique and the index term searching technique is so close that the choice of one method or the other must be primarily on economic grounds. (9 references) (Author)

The experimental results obtained by testing the main hypotheses indicated that there was no difference between the two indexing methods compared, indexing from an alphabetical list alone, and indexing with the suggestion lists as a supplement to the alphabetical list. (Author/MM)