Indexing and Abstracting Glossary of Terms (Cleaveland & Cleaveland)

Aboutness

The aboutness of a document goes beyond explicit words in the text to a higher level of meaning.

Abstract

A condensed representative surrogate of a knowledge record. A narrative description of a document, which may include pertinent data and critical comments.

Abstractor

The person who creates an abstract. This may be the author of the original paper, a subject expert, or a full time professional abstractor.

Access Point

An entry in an index in which a user's chosen word matches a word in tile index, giving the user a starting point in the search.

Acronym

An abbreviation that is often formed from letters within the word or phrase being abbreviated.

Added Entry

In a catalog, an entry that is in addition to the main entry. A secondary entry that allows the user to find the information with a different approach.

Alphabetic Subject Indexes

Indexes arranged in alphabetical order, containing important words that reflect subjects of interest.

Alphanumeric Display

Headings in an index that are arranged in alphanumeric order.

Alternative Title

The second part of a title that is joined by a connective word such as or (e.g., Raising the roof or How to Build Your Own House)

Analytical Entry

An entry for a part of an item for which a comprehensive entry has already been made.

The American National Standards Institute

ANSI

Arrangement

Consistent ordering of entries in an index, usually alphabetical.

Artificial Intelligence

An area of study that attempts to program computers to emulate human reasoning.

American Society of Indexers

ASI

Assignment Indexing

Humans or computers assign index terms to represent the aboutness of a topic in a document. The terms may or may not actually appear in the text.

Associate Relationship

A relationship among terms that shows non-hierarchical relationships. Also called related terms.

Associative Retrieval Systems

An information retrieval system in which the indexing is based on the frequency of the co-occurrence of terms as a method of grouping.

Author Abstracts

Abstracts that are written by the authors of the original papers.

Author Affiliation

The organization to which the author is attached.

Author Indexes

Indexes arranged on the basis of the authors of the documents. Alphabetical lists of the authors of documents in a file.

Authority List

A formal list of terms to be used in cataloging or indexing. The use of terms not in the authorized list is prohibited.

Automatic Abstracting

Using a computer to construct abstracts.

Automatic Indexing

Using a computer to construct indexes.

Bibliographic Control

The intellectual access to public knowledge. More specifically, the processes necessary to generate and organize records of materials in libraries and other information systems for effective retrieval.

Bibliographic Coupling

The citation of two or more documents in a third one.

Book Indexes

Indexes to the content of individual monograph publications. These usually appear at the end of the book, and are alphabetical, including subjects and name terms.

Boolean Operators

Connectives used to combine terms for searching in post-coordinate systems (e.g., AND, OR, and NOT).

Boolean Searching

The procedure of identifying information on a yes or no binary basis. For a yes answer, a user's request term is the same as an index term on the individual document under consideration from the file of documents.

Bound Terms

Index terms that are joined together and tested as a single concept. For example: artificial and intelligence form the concept artificial intelligence.

Broader Term

In a hierarchical thesaurus, broader terms and narrower terms express relationships between class and subclass. A term in a subclass would refer to class by indicating a ________.

Cataloging

The preparation and maintenance of entries in a catalog.

Chain Indexes

Alphabetically arranged indexes with a separately provided entry for each term or a link for all the terms used in a classification or subject-heading scheme.

Citation Indexes

Leads users to papers by citations, rather than by index terms. The entries in this index are the names of authors of earlier works on a subject. The index is a list of publications that have been referred to in the sources covered by the index. Citations lead the user to desired information.

Citation Order

The order in which facets are arranged (or cited) in a classified sequence of terms, headings, or entries.

Class

A set whose members share an attribute characteristic, property, quality, or trait.

Classification

The process of bringing like things together on the basis of similarities and differences. A systematic arrangement in sets or categories according to established criteria.

Client

In a network system (e.g., the Web), the receiving end of the information retrieval procedure.

Closed-end Index

One time index. Does not continue to be published over periods of time.

Clustering

Automatic grouping of documents in an information retrieval file or the grouping terms in thesaurus construction.

Collective Title

A title proper that is an inclusive title for an item containing several works.

Colon Classification

An analytic-synthetic classification system developed in 1933 by S. R. Ranganathan, in which colons separate facets.

Compound Term

Multiword terms (e.g., Super Bowl).

Computer Program

A logical sequence of detailed instructions that directs a computer's operation.

Computer-aided Indexing

Human indexers use computer software, which supplements aspects of the indexing process (e.g., formatting and thesaurus checking).

Concept

Something conceived in the mind, either concrete or abstract, based on generalization from particular instances.

Concept List

A list of words representing the ideas in a knowledge record not yet translated into the formal indexing vocabulary.

Concordance

An alphabetical index of the words appearing in a text with a pointer to the precise point at which each word occurs. The index shows every contextual occurrence of a word.

Content Analysis

An attempt to infer the meaning and intent of a knowledge record in the absence of the creator. A subjective representation of what a record is about.

Controlled Vocabulary

A vocabulary in which only an approved list of words can be used as index terms; used to manage synonyms and near synonyms and to bring together semantically related terms.

[1] Coordinate Indexing [2] pre-coordination [3] post-coordination

[1] An indexing scheme that combines single index terms to create composite subject concepts (e.g., the terms eye and surgery are combined to create the concept eye surgery). The system allows the coordination of classes either before or during searching. In [2] ________ the combinations are made at the input stage, and in [3] ________ the combinations are made at the output stage.

Corporate Body

A group of people or organizations that are considered as a single entity (e.g., the IBM Corporation).

Critical Abstract

An abstract that evaluates the content of the paper.

Cross-Reference

An entry in a work that points to another entry.

Cumulative Indexes

Are created by combining, at some point, a series of indexes created over a period of time.

Depth of Indexing

The result of the combined effects of exhaustivity and specificity in an index.

Derivative Indexing

Human or computers select index terms directly from the words in the document, including titles, abstracts, and text.

Descriptor

An index term chosen as the preferred representation for the aboutness of a topic in a document.

Discipline-oriented Abstract

An abstract aimed at an activity concerned with a specific area of knowledge.

Display

The final, useable form of the thesaurus or index.

Dissertation

A formal report on original research usually prepared by a graduate student at a university.

Document

The physical carrier of organized information. May be print or nonprint, including digital form.

Documentation

An activity that concerns itself with the reproduction, distribution, and utilization of documents. The movement began in Europe, spread to the United States in the 1930s, and became one of the intellectual streams leading to the information science discipline.

Double Entry

Entering an entry in two places in the index, usually done when the entry compound and several elements may be a possible lead-in term for the user.

Electronic Records

Records in a machine-readable medium.

Element

A word or phrase representing a distinct bibliographic unit of information.

Entity-oriented Index

Terms are selected on the basis of the actual topics in the document rather than on the anticipated needs and requests of users.

Entry

The point where the user is directed to the needed information. It consists of headings and subheadings with a locator, directing where to find the information.

Entry Differentiation

The practice of breaking up long, solid blocks of entry components into several, more readable lines, sometimes with additional subheadings.

Entry Redundancy

The assignment of superfluous entries.

Entry Scattering

The undesirable practice of spreading closely related entries throughout the index.

Entry Vocabulary

All the terms by which a user gains entrance into the index.

Enumerative Classification

A system in which all the elements are named and placed in fixed relationships prior to use.

Equivalent Term

A term that is used for another term. This may include synonyms, but also broader or related terms may be equivalent terms.

Exhaustivity

The range of topic coverage of an indexed document.

Expert System

A computer system that is designed and programmed to accomplish tasks that experts accomplish using their intelligence and experience.

Extract

A form of abstract which is constructed by stringing together verbatim sentences from the original paper.

Faceted Indexes

Indexes based on any definable aspect that makes up a subject. Composite concepts are then created in such a way that access is possible for each facet, or notion, contained in the subject composite.

False Drops

Nonrelevant documents retrieved as a result of a semantic breakdown. For example, a request for Venetian blinds might also result in information on Blind Venetians.

File

An orderly collection of similar information records.

Formula Indexes

Indexes in which the entries are listed in order, such as the symbol for the first element of a molecular formula.

Free-text Searching

Searching the entire document looking for matches of natural language terms.

Free-text Vocabulary

An uncontrolled vocabulary in which any word in the natural language is a permissible index term.

Generic Posting

The assignment of a broader term for a concept in a document.

Generic Vocabulary

A vocabulary consisting of those words that represent the basic type of an entity (e.g., INSECTS as generic for ants, bees, fleas, etc.). Generic terms are generally cross-reference terms.

Heading

One or more terms representing a topic in an index.

Hit

A match of query terms to a document in the information file.

Homograph

A term that has the same spelling, but different meanings, such as Base (military) and Base (mathematics).

Hypermedia

Stored text and nontextual information with links between access points, allowing a transfer from one item to another in the file. May be a mixture of test, images, and sounds.

Hypertext

Stored text with links between access points. Allowing a transfer from one document to another.

Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada/Societe canadienne pour l'analyse des documents

IASC/SCAD

Identifier

A proper name of a person, institution, place, object, operation, or process.

Indented Layout

A form of display in which multilevel headings in an entry have each new subheading and sub-subheading beginning on a new line, progressively shifted to the right under the main headings.

Index

A guide to the contents of a knowledge record. A systematic analysis of such records, arranged in an organized way. A list of bibliographic information arranged in order according to some specified datum such as author, subject, or topic keyword.

Indexable Material

The parts of a document that are actually analyzed and indexed.

Indexing Depth

The degree to which every facet and every aspect of the facets are covered. The number of headings or descriptors assigned per unit of text.

Indexing Language

Any vocabulary, controlled or uncontrolled used for indexing, along with the rules of usage.

Indexing Rules

A set of guidelines used for indexing a document.

Indexing Syntax

The order and structural relationships of descriptors.

Indicative Abstract

An abstract that indicates the content of the original paper without data or comment.

Information

Facts told, read, or otherwise communicated, usually previously unknown to the recipient.