1. indexing and abstracting
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Indexing and abstracting are essential activities for any information unit to organize and provide access to information. Indexing describes the contents of works to create a list of subjects or headings to facilitate storage and retrieval. Abstracting reduces documents to their essence through secondary documents called abstracts, which help readers decide if they should read the full document. Together, indexing and abstracting provide effective and efficient navigation of information by reducing search space and evaluation time for users.
1. indexing and abstracting
- 1. 1 Information is an important element in every organization. The challenge can be how to keep such information in a manner so organized that it would be easy to retrieve at any time, retain its validity and be easy to understand. This requires systems that can reduce on time, cost and redundancy of information. Information specialists have devised methods to ensure that information activities are carried on at low cost with less time. Information institutions such as libraries have prided in devising procedures of accessing information in as little time as possible. Information retrieval processes involve cataloging, classification, indexing and abstracting. Indexing and abstracting are the concern of this paper, to discuss how they are essential to any type of information unit. Indexing is the first essential activity wherever information has to be organized in a manner that would necessitate easy storage and retrieval. According to Wedgeworth, (1993) indexing is a language based system that describes the content of a work, resulting in a list of subjects or headings called an index. The indexing process includes qualifying these terms with subentries where appropriate; and editing the index after a first draft is produced to improve its cohesiveness, consistency, accuracy, and usefulness to the reader. The necessity of indexing is discussed by its functions. According to Perera, (2012) an index could be an alphabetical reference list of topics, people, or titles, giving the location of where they are mentioned in a text. It could also be a catalogued list of items in a set or collection such as the books in a library, usually including details of where to find them. According to Bello, (2007) indexing serves the purpose of grouping together information on topics scattered by the arrangements of the document, and organises headings and their modifying subheadings into index entries. Chrisp and Toale, (2008) assert that by indexing, it is easier to avoid users getting lost in a myriad of information. Indexing can be used to direct users seeking information under terms not chosen as index headings, to headings that have been chosen using “see references.” An index can be used to suggest to users of a topic to look up related topics also by means of “see also”. Thus indexing literally affords a means for arranging entries into systematic and helpful order and identifying /locating potentially relevant information in the document or collection being indexed.
- 2. 2 The necessity of indexing can also be seen in the various kinds of indexes which, according to Swamy and Brinda, (2013) are broadly divided into Pre-coordinate indexing and Post- coordinate indexing. Pre coordinate indexing is helpful whereby the combination of search terms is done by the indexer rather than by the searcher. This is typically applied in printed indexes. Post coordinate indexing is carried out where the combination of terms is not made during the indexing of the document but during the search. Post-coordinate indexing systems are functional as they can be used in combination with Boolean logic where the search sets are formed and combined with the logic "and". The other types of useful indexes include, author, subject, document, citation, cumulative, book, periodical and bibliographical indices. The most significant feature of indexing according to Meadow, (1967) is that it is exhaustive and specific, which has some degree of influence on two important measures of information retrieval, namely precision and recall. Abstracting is another indispensable component of information accessibility. O’Connor, (1996) defines abstracting as the reduction of each document to its essence, making a secondary document to stand in place of the original. The product of such is called an abstract. Abstracting serves essential purposes. In the view of Fidel, (1996) abstracting helps readers decide if they should read an entire article or not. Readers would often rather rely on abstracts to decide quickly if an article is of any importance to them. The tone of the abstract is often reflective of the main article, which also allows the reader decipher the complexity level of the document. They help readers and researchers remember key findings on a topic. People keep abstracts to remind them of the source because they also have bibliographic citations. They help readers understand a text by acting as pre-reading outline of key points. Using abstracts to get a summary makes reading the text easier and much more efficient. Abstracts are also helpful in indexing articles for quick recovery and cross referencing. Cross referencing through abstracts opens up new areas of research that the readers might not have known about when they started their research. They allow supervisors to review technical work without becoming caught up in details. Fidel, (1996) identifies that there are two main types of abstracts, which are descriptive abstracts and informative abstracts. Both are critical to manipulation of information. Descriptive abstracts outline the topics covered in a piece of
- 3. 3 writing, so that the reader will have an option of choosing to, or not to read the entire document. Informative abstracts provide details about the substance of a writing because readers will sometimes read only the abstract. Following the discussion raised this far, there is a symbiotic relationship between indexing and abstracting. O’Connor, (1996) contends that while indexing facilitates the pointing out of areas of utility, abstracting provides secondary documents for the user’s perusal. Together they provide for the effective and efficient navigation through the chaotic and explosive universe of information. It is however important to understand, while designing indexing and abstracting systems, that their effectiveness depend on the objectives and goals needing to be served. Saving the time of the user is a reverberateion of information work. Indexing and abstracting epitomize the time management aspect of information work. They are both systems of representation, where one serves as a compass (index) and the other as the clarifier, (abstract) serving as a guide for the decisions of whether to consult the primary source or not. The concluding view is that even though indexing, reduces search space and abstracting, evaluation time, the two systems need to be merged by information units in one entry space like is done online. This will even make the reduction of search space and time more reasonable, and users will make fuller use of accumulated records. In support to the aforementioned, it can be said that newer searching tools are being implemented that allow access to a wider range of information, like Google scholar. Abstracts are being used for free text retrieval. Users are even bringing this attitude to the use of the library. Most editors are even insisting that concepts be included in abstracts to complement descriptor indexing. Language used in abstracting should be more controlled, and there should be an identifiable match between types of requests and types of abstract. In essence, indexing and abstracting are two initiatives that have made compilation of information and its retrieval quick and less costly. Their significance to information units shows that they have gone a long way to help both institutions and users to access relevant information at the right time, place, format and with valid understanding.
- 4. 4 References Bello, S. O. (2007) Elements Of Indexing and Abstracting. Unpublished Lecture Notes Chrisp, P. and Toale,K. (2008) Impact Assessment. www.thepublicationplan.com (01/ 04/ 2012) Fidel, R. (1996) The Effect of Abstracting Guidelines on Retrieval Performance of Free-text Searching.Information Processing and Management. vol 22:4, pp 309 - 316. Meadow, Charles T. (1967) The Analysis of Information Systems: a Programmers’s Information Retrieval. NewYork. O’Connor, B. C.(1996) Exploration in Indexing and Abstracting: Point, Virtue and Power.U.S.A.:Libraries Unlimited Inc.Pp 1 – 15. Perera, T. (2012) Characteristics of good filing system. UNICAF. Swamy and Brinda, (2013) Swamys Manual on Office Procedure for Central Government Offices. Swamy Publishers (P) Ltd. Wedgeworth, R. (1993) World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services.U.S.A.: American Library Association.
- 5. 5 Indexing and abstracting activities are essential in every information unit. Discuss. Introduction References Cooperman, S. H., (2011) Professional Office Procedures (5th Edition) . New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Foster, J. A. (2008) The Art of Filing Managing Your Documents... and Your Time. Seretaries’ Journal. 17 (8). Pp22-27. Swamy and Brinda, (2013) Swamys Manual on Office Procedure for Central Government Offices. Swamy Publishers (P) Ltd. Oliverio, M. E. Pasewark, W. R. and Bonnie R. W. (2006) The Office: Procedures and Technology. Mason: Cangage. Perera, T. (2012) Characteristics of good filing system. UNICAF.