Subject analysis extravaganza!
Now that we’ve determined that it’s impossible to know with certainty what constitutes a subject,
we’re going to thumb our noses at pesky reality and try assigning subject terms to documents.
Can everyone be right? Can some people be wrong? We shall see what happens.
We’ll take two different approaches to assigning subject terms to two different documents. In
between, we’ll come together as a group and compare our results.
Round 1
Consider article #1, “A Picture of Detroit Ruin, Street by Forlorn Street.”
Following the subject analysis process described in ISO 5963, determine the subject of the
document:
1. Write a narrative description of the subject (what is it about?).
2. Extract 3-5 concepts that represent the narrative.
3. Select the 3-5 terms from the following vocabulary that best express the identified
concepts.
For this article, only consider the article itself, not any potential uses or users of the document.
Narrative description of subject:
Your own concepts that represent the subject conveyed in the narrative:
Vocabulary terms that best express the identified concepts:
Vocabulary for article #1
Select no more than three of the following concepts to index the article:
 Big data
 Buildings
 Cataloging
 Census
 Community development
 Data-driven decision management
 Detroit
 Land parcels
 Mapping
 Municipal government
 Neighborhood density
 Photography
 Population density
 Population survey
 Property survey
 Quantitative metrics
 Urban blight
 Urban decline
 Urban planning
 Vacant buildings
Round 2
Consider article #2, “A Big Bet on Gluten Free.”
As for article #1, determine its subject.
1. Write a narrative description of the subject.
2. Extract 3-5 concepts from the narrative.
3. Select the 3-5 terms from the following vocabulary that best express the identified
concepts.
This time, however, determine the subject by thinking about how it might be used. The article in
question is part of a collection about marketing that is being used by MBA students to inform
their business plans for a class in entrepreneurship. Students are preparing to enter a universitywide contest for best business plan; previous contest winners have generated successful
businesses from their entries (examples include the Austin restaurant chain Verts).
Narrative description of subject:
Your own concepts that represent the subject conveyed in the narrative:
Vocabulary terms that best express the identified concepts:
Vocabulary for article #2
Select no more than five of the following concepts to index the article:
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Advertising
Allergies
Brand loyalty
Brand strategy
Celiac disease
Consolidation
Consumer demand
Consumer strategy
Digestive health
Distribution
Fads
Food industry
Food labeling
Food quality
Gluten
Gluten sensitivity
Gluten-free
Gluten-free alternatives
Gluten-free diet
Health
Market fragmentation
Market research
Market segmentation
Market share
Marketing
Nutrition
Packaging
Popcorn
Pricing
Shelf space
Supermarkets
Trends
Wegmans