The PREserved Context Index System (PRECIS) developed for subject indexing for the British National Bibliography is discussed as a basis for various studies relating to classification which could be made from its initial phrases, strings, entries, and back-up structure. (Author)

Describes the development of a functional indexing system that is tailored to the thinking involved in the process of invention. Classification by function is discussed; matrix representation is explained; a controlled vocabulary of verbs, objects, and modifiers is described; and the relation to other indexing systems is examined. (13 references)…

Proposes a new conceptual basis for visualizing the organization of information, or knowledge, which differentiates between the concept "vectors" for a field of knowledge represented in a multidimensional space, and the state "vectors" for a person based on his understanding of these concepts, and the representational…

Demonstrates that the process of comparing each document in an automated system with all others during the classification procedure may be avoided by the use of an inverted file. (FM)

Emphasizes class maintenance of National Library of Medicine's bibliographic retrieval file in which maintenance actions (replacement, deletion, addition) reflect yearly changes in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). File maintenance of other authoritative information attached to headings, class maintenance failures, checking class maintenance,…

Provides a brief background of the Biological Abstracts' title index, "Biological Abstracts' Subject in Context" (BASIC) "Stop List," or compilation of nonsignificant words that were going to be automatically stopped from printing. Notes that the Stop List provided an improvement over the raw computer output of titles while…

The substitution information contained in automatically obtained keyword classification is most effectively exploited when: (1) strong similarity connectives only are utilized, (2) grouping is confined to non-frequent terms, (3) term groups are used to provide additional and not alternative descriptive items and (4) descriptor collection frequency…

Proposes an automated document classification system based on the Gray code, information-theoretic considerations, and requirements of classification systems including objectivity, inclusion, linearity, and increasing distance-dissimilarity. A measure to evaluate system performance is developed, and the proposed system is compared with the Library…

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.…

Presents a statistical learning approach to assigning controlled index terms that consists of the learning process and the indexing process. A learning feedback technique is also introduced. Experimental results show that the statistical learning approach and the learning feedback technique are practical means to automatic indexing of controlled…

Analyzes associations among different role operators quantitatively by taking input strings from 200 abstracts, each related to subject fields of taxation, genetic psychology, and Shakespearean drama, and subjecting them to the Chi-square test. Significant associations by other differencing operators and connectives are discussed. A schema of role…

Presents a method for identifying indexing terms from word stems, using discriminant analysis to distinguish terms which refer to topics from terms which do not refer to topics. A test of the method on the Harris Survey Question database is discussed. Included are 11 data tables and a reference list. (Author/JL)

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…

Reports the results of research that used descriptor subfiles in the online version of "MLA Bibliography" to quantify literary warrant in the domain of scholarly work about fiction. Topics discussed include domain analysis; the interaction between literary works, scholars, and library classification systems; and further research…