Discussion of the use of mathematical tools in library and information science focuses on information retrieval applications of fuzzy set theory. Topics include fuzzy set theory in informetrics and bibliometrics; and the literature of fuzzy set theory. (Contains 87 references.) (LRW)

Compares the qualitative method of grounded theory (GT) with Ranganathan's construction of faceted classifications (FC) in library and information science. Both struggle with a core problem--the representation of vernacular words and processes, empirically discovered, which will, although ethnographically faithful, be powerful beyond the single…