iSchool
College of Information Studies
University of Maryland
Indexing, Abstracting and
Thesaurus Construction
Syllabus
For
LBSC 775
Hybrid Course : Meets on June 3 face to face on the campus and the
rest is conducted online through Canvas
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Ischool
College of Information Studies
LBSC 775 : Indexing, Abstracting and Thesaurus Construction
Summer 1 2016
Developed by
Professor T. Kanti Srikantaiah, Ph. D.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The fundamentals of indexing, abstracting and thesaurus construction in theory and
practice; formation of vocabularies; construction of a thesaurus; systems of indexing;
effects of systems upon information retrieval; style and format of abstracts; evaluation of
abstracting services; and requirements of users of abstracts. Also covers designing and
construction of index languages/thesauri and analysis and evaluation of
existing index languages/thesauri. Includes discussion of currently
available indexing software packages.
.
Prerequisite: LBSC 671
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The overall objectives of the course are to prepare each student to learn and
practice the modern information management techniques and tools through indexing,
abstracting and thesaurus construction. In addition, each student will learn to evaluate a
wide variety of products—indexes, abstracts, and thesauri available on the market.
Specifically, at the end of the course each student will be able to:

Apply the various theories of indexing and abstracting covering electronic and other
formats

Index monographs;

Formulate open-ended entries for the periodical literature;
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Write indicative, informative and hybrid abstracts;

Construct and evaluate thesaurus, and interpret the rules for thesaurus construction;
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Prepare key-word indexes and citation indexes;
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Evaluate Indexing and Abstracting products available on the market;
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Demonstrate learning of issues in managing indexing and abstracting services; and,
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Gain sufficient knowledge to enter free-lance consulting.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
There will be a total of four (4) assignments to provide hands-on practice in
indexing, abstracting, and thesaurus construction. They will carry 20 points each. In
addition, instructor will design four (4) discussion board participation for all students to
learn from each other. Each discussion board participation carry 5 points each.
Discussion Board Participation Assignments:
Discussion # 1 revolves around understanding back of the book indexing (monograph
indexing). It involves the selection of entries, designing the structure, completing the
entries, applying modifiers, page references, and with cross references. Students need to
consult and review many back of the book indexes (scholarly as well as popular) to
become competent in this area. Also monograph indexing profession is highly attractive
as a free lance work. Guidelines will be provided in terms of participation to discuss major
areas of monograph indexing.
Discussion # 2 covers variety of abstracts such as informative abstracts, indicative
abstracts, critical abstracts, and hybrid abstracts. Today, there are hundreds of abstracting
products available in every major language. We focus on English language abstracts
reviewing several abstracts in hard copy as well as in electronic format. The titles of
major abstracting products will be given for discussion along with a checklist for review.
Discussion # 3 involves English language thesaurus construction and design. What to do
and what not to do in thesaurus design and construction will be given out as a checklist.
Differences between macro thesaurus and micro thesaurus will be discussed. General vs
subject thesauri will be covered. Universal vs national (and local) thesauri will be
examined. Discussion of stalactitic and stalagmitic models are covered.
Discussion # 4 includes various secondary products available in print and online versions
on the market. H.W. Wilson company products are well known in libraries and to
information professionals. There are many secondary products in the areas of science,
social sciences, humanities and the fields such as engineering, health sciences, energy and
environment. Discussion of criteria for these varied nature of secondary products will be
covered.
Submission of Written Assignments
There are 4 written assignments in the course. These assignments will be spread
throughout the course and the assignments vary in complexity and the degree of effort
needed to complete them. Assignments should be submitted in complete form on
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schedule in the folder. Any delay in submission of assignments will affect the grading.
The details of assignments are attached.
The following provides the basis for grading of each assignment and relative contribution
to the final grade.
Number
Assignment
Points
1.
Index part of monograph (Attachment 1)
20
2.
Evaluate indicative, information and hybrid abstracts
3.
Develop a mini-thesaurus
4.
Evaluate indexing and/or abstracting service (Attachment 4)
(Attachment 2) 20
(Attachment 3)
20
20
TEXTBOOK:
Cleveland, Donald B. and Ana D. Cleveland. Introduction to Indexing and
Abstracting. 4th ed. Englewood, Colo., Libraries Unlimited, 2013.
Hard copy ISBN: 978-1-59884-976-9; ebook ISBN: 978-1-61069-476-6.
SOFTWARE TOOLS:
Various indexing software tools will be mentioned. Descriptions are available on their
websites. However, the focus will be on the indexing software CINDEX which is helpful
in monograph indexing.
Notes
Detailed notes (including a bibliography and pp slides) are provided to help you in
understanding the indexing concepts and to assist you in participating on the discussion
board and to complete written assignments.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Libraries as Systems
I and A Activities
Bibliographic Record, Influence on I and A
Records Management, Another I and A Activity
Indexing Activities
Abstracting
Thesaurus-Controlled Vocabulary
Bibliometrics
AIT bibliography
Indexing and Abstracting PP slides
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TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
The topics, which are listed below, will be covered within the comprehensive
course. Depending on the class participation/interests additional topics will be added as
necessary and some topics of lower priority will be deleted.
A. Indexing and Thesaurus construction
1. Definition
2. Historical evolution
3. Purpose of indexing
4. Indexes as information systems: back-of-the-book indexes; periodical indexes;
others
5. Role of indexes in information management
6. Filing rules and arrangement for entries
7. Basic Model: Monograph and periodical indexing
8. Pre- and Post-Coordinate indexing
9. Vocabulary Control in indexing systems
10. Thesaurus Design and Term Selection: Broad Terms (BT); Narrow Terms (NT);
Related Terms (RT); and Scope Notes (SN)
11. Thesaurus Display: Alphabetical, hierarchical, circular, arrowgraphs, and road
maps
12. Thesaurofacet: Facet identification
13. General rules for Thesaurus construction
14. Key-Word indexes
15. Citation indexes
16. Chain indexing and others
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17. Boolean concepts: search techniques
18. Index evaluation: back-of-the-book indexes; periodical indexes; and others
19. Relevance, recall and precision
20. Information in electronic formats: Indexing issues
21. Failure analysis
22. Index production and costs
23. User needs assessment
24. National and international standards
25. Education and training for indexers
26. Technological impact
27. Future of indexing
28. Systems approach to indexing: a checklist
B. Abstracting
1. Definition
2. History of abstracting: growth in the industry
3. Abstracts, extracts, annotations and miscellaneous
4. Role of abstracts in managing information
5. Abstracts in various sectors: sciences, social sciences and humanities
6. Informative abstracts
7. Indicative abstracts
8. Critical, evaluative, mission-oriented and customized abstracts
9. Anatomy of abstracts: reference, body and signature
10. Economics of abstracting: production, costs, marketing and services
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11. Guidelines for abstracts
12. National and international standards
13. Systems approach to writing abstracts: a checklist
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SCHEDULE
Meetings
1
Date
June 3
1-5
Topics and Assignments
Overview of Indexing, Abstracting, and Thesaurus Construction
Introduction: Background, Concepts of I & A and Tools required
(Discussion of different types of indexes, abstracts and thesauri with
examples)
Textbook: Chapters--General discussion of content focusing on hands-on
four assignments:
Assignment # 1: Monograph Indexing
Assignment # 2: Abstracting
Assignment # 3: Thesaurus Construction
Assignment # 4: Evaluation of Secondary Products
The remaining part of the course will be conducted online using Canvas/ELMS.
DUE DATES:
ASSIGNMENT 1: JUNE 8
ASSIGNMENT 2: JUNE 15
ASSIGNMENT 3: JUNE 22
ASSIGNMENT 4: JUNE 29
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ATTACHMENT 1
iSchool
College of Information Studies (UMD)
ASSIGNMENT # 1: Monograph Indexing
Select a non-fiction monograph that provides you with a wide variety of index entries,
such as main text, chapter headings, sub-headings, footnotes, bibliography, graphs,
tables, charts, maps, photographs, and similar illustrations. When you select your title
we should discuss the issues. From the monograph complete your index for about 25
pages. Include your entries, modifiers and cross-references when you design your index.
Review as many back of the book index as possible including scholarly works, textbooks,
popular books, etc.
Submit a written index.
DUE ON JUNE 8
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ATTACHMENT 2
ASSIGNMENT 2: ABSTRACTING
In contemporary society the greatest human activity revolves around the
generation of information, the processing of information, and the management of
information. Information, often perceived as a commodity (yet non-depletable), has
become significant in all areas: academic, social, governmental and business. While
meeting information needs, whether at the individual or at the corporate level, certain
criteria are always prominent, such as the source, organization, speed, accuracy,
reliability, current, and relevancy, to name a few.
Librarians and information specialists are often called upon to use or to create
abstracts of journal articles, books, reports, or non-print information resources. An
abstract represents the contents of a document in a shorter format than the original
document. While a catalog card, index term, title, or subject heading may provide some
information about a document, an abstract provides fuller, textual information.
The librarian who locates a citation to a document in an index or an abstract
journal may be called upon to use an abstract to determine whether or not a particular
document will meet the need of a user. Rather than accessing the whole document, the
reader can often determine relevance from the abstract. Similarly, when the user does
retrieve a journal article, report, or dissertation, he or she will find an author abstract to
be helpful in making the final determination whether or not to read the entire document.
Although the first abstracts appeared shortly after the advent of the scientific
journal as a form of scholarly communication (typically following WW II), they have
become increasingly important in recent years. Abstracts are now searchable fields in
most electronic databases, and so the concepts and terms within the abstracts are of
considerable importance for retrieval.
Abstracts also provide a vital key to material published in other languages. Many
journals provide abstracts in languages other than the original, thus allowing readers of
other languages to determine the relevance of the document before going to the trouble
and expense of having the material translated. In some instances, the abstract alone can
provide sufficient information to meet a user’s need.
While librarians and information specialists use abstracts written by others for judging
relevance, they are often called upon to write abstracts of documents for their users.
Particularly in special libraries and information centers, where librarians may be
responsible for providing internal current awareness reports or bulletins to users, they
may need to abstract materials that were not abstracted by the authors or by publishers of
indexing and abstracting tools.
Although abstracts are more often associated with scientific and technical
literature, an increasing number of social sciences and humanities journals are including
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abstracts. They may appear as primary products or secondary products. They may differ
in the way information/knowledge are represented depending on the type of source such
as professional journals, conference proceedings, dissertations, books, reports, and
commercially available secondary products (world-wide) in various fields.
Traditionally, abstracts are categorized into two basic types: the informative
abstract and the indicative abstract. The former is a miniature version of the original text
itself, whereas the latter directs the reader to the data in original document. In other
words, the informative abstract will include inform the reader of much of the information
that is contained in the original document. Facts and figures, derived from the original
document, appear in a good informative abstract. Objectives of the work, methods,
findings, and conclusions of an article, report, or dissertation are often parts of an
informative abstract. Often the informative abstract can, by itself, be used as a reliable
information source. On the other hand, the indicative abstract indicates to the reader
what the document being abstracted is about. This type of abstract does not inform the
reader of the contents of the document, but merely identifies what the reader should
expect in the focal document. An indicative abstract cannot be, by itself, used in place of
the document itself. The writing of abstracts, especially in the technical fields, is done be
the person who knows most about the document, which means the author. The indicative
abstracts are written by professional abstractors.
Today, in addition to informative and indicative, two other types seem to be prominent:
Critical and Hybrid. A critical abstract serves as a kind of review of the original
document. By its nature, it is usually somewhat informative, but it takes a point of view
on some aspect or aspects of the original work. Whether abstracts should include any
bias or should merely include evaluations have been debated in professional writings.
The hybrid abstract combines elements of other types. In a sense this may not be a good
idea because some informative elements may lead the user to overlook a document if he
or she believes that other elements are not covered by the document because they are not
mentioned in the abstract. However, this type must be mentioned since a number of
abstracts in the literature do not fit neatly into the other categories.
In the abstracting industry, the production of an abstract depends on many factors:
objectives, methods, users, style, usefulness, cost and related matters. The industry may
also use other terms to describe specific types of abstracts (descriptive, evaluative,
mission-oriented, author-generated etc.)
ASSIGNMENT
1.
Review chapter 9 of the textbook.
2.
Consult as many of the Abstracts in different fields as possible to become familiar
with the field. Select at least two abstracts, in your area of interest, one from the category
of informative and one from the category of indicative (If you prefer you can also select a
hybrid as an alternative) and review the abstracts and the original articles. Submit a
written report on both abstracts with your comments. Your comments should include the
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style, audience, length, user-friendliness, keywords available in the abstract for retrieval,
effectiveness of the abstract when compared with the original articles.
DUE ON JUNE 15
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ATTACHMENT 3
ASSIGNMENT #3: VOCABULARY CONTROL/THESAURUS CONSTRUCTION
First, look up several thesauri go get an idea of their purpose, structure and users. At
least refer to the following three thesauri : ERIC Thesaurus, Art and Architecture
Thesaurus, and ASIST Thesaurus.
For your assignment:
Select a topic of your interest preferably in the area of library and information science.
Construct a mini-thesaurus of about 50-75 terms, which should include:

An alphabetical display of terms chosen for the thesaurus

A consistent hierarchical arrangement of Broader Terms (BT), Narrower Terms
(NT), Related Terms (RT), needed Scope Notes, and proper inclusion of USE
and USED FOR (UF) cross references
You should turn in:
a)
A brief introduction to your thesaurus;
b) Hierarchical display of your terms;
c)
An alphabetical display of your terms plus all the necessary cross-references.
Each authorized entry in your alphabetical display should contain the following types of
information:
a)
A Scope Note: Provide a brief definition of the term;
b) Hierarchical term designations: Use BT, NT, RT to show the relationships of
authorized terms;
c) Synonyms control: Use UF to control synonyms. The Ufs must be turned into SEE
cross-references and interfiled with authorized terms.
Submit your completed thesaurus in the written format.
Your finished product should comply with the structure of latest Thesaurus of ERIC
Descriptors
DUE ON JUNE 22
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ATTACHMENT 4
ASSIGNMENT # 4: EVALUATION OF SECONDARY PRODUCTS
Select a secondary product from the existing indexing and abstracting services
commercially available. When you make your selection let us discuss related to that
product. Afterwards continue and provide a general review of your selection in terms of:
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Type of service and the origin
Purpose and intended users
General introduction of the product
Scope and limitations of the product
Subject field (s) covered
Language (s)
List of periodicals and other items (books, reports, patents, etc.) covered
Adequacy of Instructions for use
Frequency, cumulative issues, and duration
Completeness (ex: what is included?)
Structure, quality of entries in each issue
Approximate number of entries in each issue
Filing principles for entries
Density of entries
Basis for selection of materials for inclusion
Time lag
Authority
Usage of controlled vocabulary
Format of the product
Quality of the finished product (layout, paper, typography, binding, etc.)
Errors, omissions, and duplications
Cross-references
Relevance, exhaustivity, and specificity
Cost
Overall user-friendliness
Others
Submit a written report.
DUE ON JUNE 29
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