Humanities scholars can today engage in research inquiry using data from a range of varied collections which are often characterised by poor subject access, often resulting in systems that underperform and even effectively prevent access to data, information and knowledge. In spite of the availability of professional standards and guidelines to…

"Computing in the Humanities," an undergraduate course for Computer Science Department majors and minors and Web Programming minors at New York University, represents a unique collaboration between the Computer Science Department and the University Archives. The course's final assignment required students to select, digitize, and contextualize…

Two hundred journal articles related to fields of taxation, genetic psychology, and Shakespearean drama published from 1970-1980 were analyzed and PRECIS input strings were drawn. Occasions when input string and index entries looked incomplete and unexpressive after losing context of document are provided with solutions. Role operator schema is…

This paper compares the subject indexing on articles pertaining to Immanuel Kant, agriculture, and aging that are found simultaneously in Humanities Index, Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) and Periodicals Research II (Micromedia ProQuest), in order to show that there are substantial variations in the depth and quality of indexing in these databases.…

Explores differences in precision of terms used in subject access in the humanities, differentiating by the exactness with which the phenomena designated can be located in space and time. Samples of 200 terms from seven indexes in the humanities are classified according to five categories of terms. Six tables present results of data analyses. (22…

Investigates vocabulary of the humanities by analyzing terms used as entry points in leading encyclopedias and dictionaries in humanities. Categories that distinguish entry terms by precision and potential for effectiveness in subject access are proposed and a sample of entry terms is classified into these categories. Thirty-five sources are…

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…

Stylistic analysis or attribution study is a very different kind of indexing. Instead of indexing subjects, it measures such things as the frequencies of common words such as and" and the". These studies reveal a great deal about consistency, methodology, and the approaches used for documents in the humanities. (41 references) (Author/NH)

Reviews the development of secondary information services in the arts and humanities, discusses the services currently provided and the usage levels for those services, outlines some of the problems associated with online databases in the humanities, and considers some probable future developments. A 5-item reference list is included. (JL)

Describes the "Rutgers Inventory of Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities" that provides bibliographic information through RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) for electronic texts in the humanities. Highlights include adaptation of MARC format; access points; search strategies; and unresolved issues in the bibliographic…

An attempt is being made to improve subject access to monographs by augmenting MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) records. Working with a sample of books drawn from the collections of the University of Toronto and comprising a number of subject areas in the humanities and social sciences, the project plans to enlarge the MARC description by using…

Investigates the impact of the omission of scholarly communication journals from Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) on citation-based appraisals of communication literature. Argues that accurate citation analysis will not be possible until SSCI and AHCI include omitted journals; and that an…

Based on the results of a two-year study conducted by the Getty Art History Information Program of online searching by humanities scholars, implications are drawn for the design of information products. Topics include characteristics of humanities scholars; design and content of databases; indexing vocabulary; and interfaces and command languages.…

Humanists use a wide variety of textual, graphic, and aural materials in their research, each of which presents indexing challenges. Research into the nature of these materials and humanists' information-seeking behaviors indicate that indexing models from the sciences are not adequate. New controlled vocabulary and indexing frameworks are needed.…

Discussion of the information-seeking behavior of humanists focuses on a study that investigated the efficacy of following bibliographic references from documents already known. Topics include the nature of humanities research; vocabulary control and indexing; subject-based literature searches; seed documents; relevance; retrieval based on…