HANDOUT FOR INDEXING and ABSTRACTING

INDEXING

What is indexing?
● According to the British indexing standard (BS3700:1988), an ​index  ​is a systematic
arrangement of entries designed to enable users to locate information in a document.
● The process of creating an index is called ​indexing
● A person who does it is called an ​indexer​.
● There are many types of indexes, from cumulative indexes for journals to computer
database indexes.

“ The chief purpose of an index is distillation, and in performing that task it can manage
to suggest a life's incongruities with a concision that the most powerful biographical
stylist will have trouble matching.”
Thomas Mallon, ​New York Times,​ 10 March 1991

“The ocean flows of online information are all streaming together, and the access tools
are becoming absolutely critical. If you don't index it, it doesn't exist. It's out there but
you can't find it, so it might as well not be there.”
Barbara Quint, ASI San Diego Conference, 1994

Who does indexing?

● In the United States, according to tradition, the index for a non-fiction book is the
responsibility of the author. Most authors don't actually do it.
● While a few publishers have in-house indexers
● Most indexing is done by freelancers, often working from home, hired by authors,
publishers or packagers.
(A ​packager  ​is an independent business which manages the production of a book by hiring
freelancers to accomplish the various tasks involved, including copyediting, proofreading and
indexing.)

“Indexing work is not recommended to those who lack an orderly mind and a capacity
for taking pains. A good index is a minor work of art but it is also the product of clear
thought and meticulous care.”
Peter Farrell, ​How to Make Money from Home 
 
How is indexing done?
● The indexer usually receives a set of ​page proofs ​for the book (images of the actual pages
as they will appear, including final page numbers), often at the same time as final
proofreading is being done by someone else.
● The indexer reads the page proofs, making a list of ​headings  ​and ​subheadings ​(terms to
appear in the index) and the location of each pertinent reference.
 ● After completing the rough index the indexer edits it for structure, clarity and
consistency, formats it to specifications, proofreads it and submits it to the client in
hard-copy form, on disk, by modem, or by email. Since the indexer is very late in the
production process, there can be unreasonable time pressure.

What skills or education do indexers need?

● Excellent language skills
● High clerical aptitude
● Accuracy and attention to detail.

Once you are indexing professionally, you will find that

● self-discipline
● curiosity
● tolerance of isolation
● love of books are necessary to keep going.

 
How Information Retrieval Started

The papyrus scroll used by the ancient Greeks and Romans was not the most efficient
way of storing information in a written form and of retrieving it. Yet, as Greek and Roman
scholars began to write large works that were compilations of data of various sorts, they found it
useful to devise various means of organizing the material to make locating certain passages
easier for the reader. Here are a few examples of what they did.

1. Tables of contents
Pliny the Elder (died 79 A.D.) wrote a massive work called ​The  Natural  History  in  37 
Books​. It was a kind of encyclopedia that comprised information on a wide range of subjects. In
order to make it a bit more user-friendly, the entire first book of the work is nothing more than a
gigantic table of contents in which he lists, book by book, the various subjects discussed. He
even appended to each list of items for each book his list of Greek and Roman authors used in
compiling the information for that book. He indicates in the very end of his preface to the entire
work that this practice was first employed in Latin literature by Valerius Soranus, who lived
during the last part of the second century B.C. and the first part of the first century B.C. Pliny's
statement that Soranus was the first in Latin literature to do this indicates that it must have
already been practiced by Greek writers.

2. Alphabetization
One method of information organization which we take for granted nowadays, namely
alphabetization, was probably first devised by Greek scholars of the third century B.C. at the
library of Alexandria in Egypt in order to help them organize the growing numbers of Greek
literary works. Subject of alphabetization and its use in classical antiquity was treated years ago
in a little monograph by Lloyd Daly.

3. Hierarchies of information
 There are a few other ancient works which employed arranging material under headings
in order to make the writing more user-friendly and easier to consult. Valerius Maximus wrote a
collection of memorable deeds and sayings ca.30 A.D. The work is divided into nine books, and
each book is subdivided into chapters, and each chapter has its own heading, and all entries
within that chapter contain anecdotes taken from ancient literature and history which illustrate
that theme.
Marcus Julius Frontinus, a Roman senator of the late first century A.D. and early second
century A.D., wrote a book of military strategies in four books. Each book concerns itself with a
specific area of warfare. Each book is then subdivided into chapters that each address one
specific aspect of the book's major theme. Each chapter has a heading to clue the reader, and the
chapter itself consists of brief extracts taken from historical works that illustrate the practical
application of the topic.
Finally, Aulus Gellius wrote a work entitled ​The  Attic  Nights  c​ a. 160 A.D. in 20 books.
The work is a crazy quilt assortment of items on Greek and Roman history, philosophy,
grammar, rhetoric, and antiquarian material in general. Since the work was composed with no
real order but as the various topics occurred to the author, each chapter of every book concerns
an isolated subject, and this subject is clearly spelled out in a title heading that stands at the
beginning of the chapter. A reader could therefore skim through a book and locate the subject by
glancing over the titles of the chapters.

INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (IRS)

● Organization of information may take in different forms: manual, computerized, or a
combination of both.
● Modern information retrieval systems can be divided into three categories: data retrieval,
reference retrieval, and text retrieval.
● IRS is a mechanism for carrying out the functions of information retrieval processes.

Indexes in history
 
● Inventories  and  catalogs  of  collections  in temples and monasteries during the ancient and 
medieval ages were in the form of clay tablets and manuscripts. 
● Chapter  headings,  contents  lists,  and  paragraph  headings  on  margins  of  books  were 
forerunners of indexes. 
● Early  indexes  were  limited  to  personal  names, titles of works, or to occurrences of words 
in the text. 
● late  14th  century  "the  forefinger,"  from  Latin  index  (gen.  indicis)  meaning  "forefinger, 
pointer, sign, list,” "anything which points out," from indicare "point out” 
● Meaning  "list  of  a  book's  contents"  is  first  attested  1570s,  from  Latin  phrases  such  as 
Index Nominum 
● Indexing techniques of the 14th up to the 16th centuries are 
○ characterized in the following manner: 
○ Arrangement of entries was roughly alphabetical. 
○ Majority are lists of sentences and arranged in order of catchword; and 
○ Use of subject headings was uncommon. 
● ​15th Century 
○ concordances to the Bible (from the 7th century) 
○ subject indexes to canonical law (from the 11th century) 
○ 'real concordances' or classified lists of references to theological concepts 
○ subject indexes to works on ethics 
○ natural philosophy and logic 
○   In  some  manuscripts  headwords  and  marginal  references  served  as  guides  to the 
text. 
● 1460 
○ Printed book indexes appeared 
○ Developments in medicine were aided by indexes to medical texts and herbals. 
○ Book indexes. M ​ embers of the societies of indexers may well take pride in the fact
that this sense of index is indeed the oldest among the figurative or applied senses
of the word, and that this specific usage (like the word itself) goes back to ancient
Rome.
○ There, when used in relation to literary works, the term ​index  ​was used for the
little slip attached to papyrus scrolls on which the title of the work (and
sometimes also the name of the author) was written so that each scroll on the
shelves could be easily identified without having to pull them out for inspection
so that [the copyists may take some bits of parchment to make title slips from
them, which Greeks call sillybus (Cicero, Atticus, 4.41.1)
○ From this developed the usage of ​index ​for the title of books. There are two books
with different titles, one called "The sword", the other having the title "The
dagger". Those two books, by the way, were what we would call today "hit lists"
of people whom Caligula wished to have assassinated shortly before that same
fate befell him.
○ At about the same time, in the first century A.D., the meaning of the word was
extended from "title" to a table of contents or a list of chapters (sometimes with a
brief abstract of their contents) and hence to a bibliographical list or catalog.
○ However, indexes in the modern sense, giving exact locations of names and
subjects in a book, were not compiled in antiquity, and only very few seem to
have been made before the age of printing.
○ There are several reasons for this. First, as long as books were written in the form
of scrolls, there were neither page nor leaf numbers not line counts (as we have
them now for classical texts). Also, even had there been such numerical
indicators, it would have been impractical to append an index giving exact
references, because in order for a reader to consult the index, the scroll would
have to be unrolled to the very end and then to be rolled back to the relevant page.
(Whoever has had to read a book available only on microfilm, the modern
successor of the papyrus scroll, will have experienced how difficult and
inconvenient it is to go from the index to the text.)
○ Second, even though popular works were written in many copies (sometimes up
to several hundreds),no two of them would be exactly the same, so that an index
could at best have been made to chapters or paragraphs, but not to exact pages.
 Yet such a division of texts was rarely done (the one we have now for classical
texts is mostly the work of medieval and Renaissance scholars).
○ Only the invention of printing around 1450 made it possible to produce identical
copies of books in large numbers, so that soon afterwards the first indexes began
to be compiled, especially those to books of reference, such as herbals.
○ Index entries were not always alphabetized by considering every letter in a word
from beginning to end, as people are wont to do today.
○ Most early indexes were arranged only by the first letter of the first word, the rest
being left in no particular order at all.
○ Gradually, alphabetization advanced to an arrangement by the first syllable, that
is, the first two or three letters, the rest of an entry still being left unordered.
● 1544 
○ First Biblical concordance was published 
○ It's Compiler Was Burned For Heresy 
○ The Gerardes Herbal from the 1590s had several fascinating indexes according to
Hilary Calvert. Barbara Cohen writes that th
● Only very few indexes compiled in the 16th and early 17th centuries had fully
alphabetized entries, but by the 18th century full alphabetization became the rule.
Indexes go way back beyond the 17th century.
○ Alphabetical listing in the earliest ones only went as far as the first letter of the
entry.
○ No one thought at first to index each entry in either letter-by-letter or
word-by-word order.
○ Maja-Lisa writes that Peter Heylyn's 1652 ​Cosmographie  in  Four  Bookes 
includes a series of tables at the end. They are alphabetical indexes and he
prefaces them with Short Tables may not seem proportional to so long a Work,
especially in an Age wherein there are so many that pretend to learning, who
study more the Index then they do the Book.
● 1737
○ First published the complete concordance of the Holy Scriptures
○ Still in print byAlexander Cruden
● ​ 1755
○ Samuel Johnson's A dictionary of the English language was a first index to the
English language.
● ​19th Century
○ there were moves to codify indexing
○ Modern history of indexing began in 1848.
○ W.F. Poole introduced the idea of one index to many
○ periodicals covering a considerable number of years
○ Publication of Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature in 1900 began; it placed
emphasis on subject access and useful cross references.
● 1877
○ The Index Society was formed in London
○ with the aim of creating 'a general index of universal literature’
● ​ 1878
 ○ The Index Society was formed in London with Henry Wheatley as secretary.
○ Dr Henry Benjamin Wheatley, after whom the Wheatley Medal is named, wrote
What is an indexer?
● 1890
○ The 18th century was the first great age of the index.
○ This society continued
● 1957
○ Towards the middle of the 19th century, there was transition from individual book
and periodical indexes to indexes attempting to cover entire branches of
disciplines and subjects.
○ In the 19th century, indexing improved both in execution and in the esteem of the
public. Periodicals such as Punch and Illustrated London were already indexed.
○ Women began to enter the field and eventually the Society of Indexers was
formed in Great Britain
○ Meanwhile in the United States
■ William Frederick Poole began his Index to periodical literature
■ This was the first of many printed indexes published by the H. W. Wilson
Company and others.
○ In Belgium
■ Paul Otlet began the Universal Bibliographic Repertory - a universal index
of all knowledge. By 1914 this index contained over eleven million entries
backed by text files and illustrations.
○ The Society of Indexers was followed by the founding of indexing societies in
○ USA (American Society of Indexers, 1968)
■ Australia and New Zealand (Australian Society of Indexers, 1976)
■ Canada (Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada, 1977)
■ China (China Society of Indexers, 1991)
■ South Africa (Association of South African Indexers and Bibliographers,
1994).
● 19th Century
○ In the 1950s, computers penetrated the indexing arena and efforts to evaluate
indexing began.
○ Meanwhile the British Standard on Indexing (BS3700:1976) was published; with
its subsequent revisions it is still used throughout the English-speaking world.
● 20th Century
○ Computers aiding in producing existing forms of indexes ​
○ Establishment of large databases
○ World Wide Web
■ the largest accumulation of databases
■ has developed without any overall plan
■ disorganized data
■ Has limited search using primitive keyword searches ​ Results to
unmanageable hits
■ Not subject to any quality control
 ■ Today, there are more than 6,000 periodical indexes published in more
than 70 countries.

Index and Indexing

Index​ DEFINED
1. An ordered list of terms or keys that guides a user in locating recorded information.
2. A systematic guide to items contained in or concepts derived from a collection of
information entities.
3. Is a systematic arrangement of entries designed to enable users to locate information in a
document (British Indexing Standard, BS3700:1988.
4. A tool which indicates or points out to a user the information or source of information
that one needs

Index Entry - ​Consists of a heading, which is most commonly a keyword or phrase used to
identify the subject, a modification or subheading and a page reference or locator.

Good index leads user to the exact information.

● No hurdles
● No false path
● No irrelevant materials
“Making index is a thing but making a good index is another thing”

Indexing
● The process of creating an index
● The process of analyzing the contents of a document and assigning index terms to
represent the names of persons, places, titles and subject matter of documents and for
these to serve as access points in locating and retrieving information from the document.
Steps
1. Analyzing content of an information item
2. Expressing the aboutness of the item in an abbreviated form
3. Indication the location of the information
Indexer ​DEFINED
- a person who does indexing
- analyzes a document and tags it with subject and other designators on his perception of what a
user would search under

Acc to Cleaveland, there are 4 things that happens when using index
● You do not find any information although it is there
● You fine information, but it not what you thought it would be
● You find a part of the available information
● You find information and it is exactly what you need

Purpose of Index
 ● Minimize the time & effort in finding information
● Maximize the searching success of user
● Construct representations of documents in a form that is suitable for the users to browse
through in different forms.
Thus, means increasing usage of documents and giving added value to it

Uses of an Index
● Facilitate reference to the specific item or to locate wanted information
● Disclose relationships
● Discriminate between information on a subject and mere passing mention of a subject
● Serve as filter to withhold irrelevant materials
● Provide a comprehensive review of a subject field
● Give nomenclature guidance

Types of Indexes
1. By Arrangement
a. Alphabetical index – based on the orderly principle of letters of the alphabet and
is used for the arrangement of index terms and cross references.
Examples: H.W. Wilson indexes, Index to Philippine Periodicals (IPP), Computerized
Index to Philippine Periodical Articles (CIPPA).
b. Classified index – has its contents arranged on the basis of relations among
concepts from general to specific. Classified indexes are often based on existing
classification schemes such as the Dewey Decimal Classification, Colon
Classification, MeSH tree structure.
Examples: Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) index, Applied Science and
Technology Index, Engineering Index, and systematic displays of various thesauri.
c. Concordance – an alphabetical index of all the principal words appearing in a
single text or in a multi-volume work of a single author with a pointer to the
precise point at which the word occurs. Sometimes, concordances are called word
and name indexes.
Example: Cruden's Concordance to the Bible and other similar concordances to the Bible.
2. By Type or Form of Material Indexed
a. Book index – an alphabetical list of topics, names, and/or titles of works which
are discussed in the book. The list is found at the back of a book with the
corresponding page locators.
i. The components of a book index entry consist of:
1. main index term
2. subdivision/s under the main index term
3. page locator
4. cross references
Sample of back of the book index
 b. Periodical index – an alphabetical list of topics, names, and/or titles of works
which are discussed in: articles in one journal title or in numerous journal titles.
Its scope is broader.
Sample of periodical index

c. Newspaper index - an alphabetical list of topics, names, and/or titles of works

which are discussed in news articles, columns, and feature articles in one
newspaper title or in several newspaper titles. Its scope is broader.
Sample of newspaper index

d. Audiovisual materials index – an alphabetical list of topics and names which refer
to images found in these materials.
3. By Physical Form
a. Card index (similar to a card catalog) Printed book index
b. Microform index
c. Computerized index

Principles of Indexing

● Exhaustivity – ​the extent to which concepts or topics are retrieved by means of broad
and specific index terms.
This is achieved with the practice of doing both summarization or selective indexing wherein the
index terms represent only the major topics or themes; and depth indexing, wherein the index
terms represent both the major and minor topics discussed in the document.
● Specificity – the extent to which a concept or topic in a document is represented by a
very precise term in the hierarchy of its genus-species relationship of terms.
For example, an article that deals with the reinterpretation of the Koran regarding the rights of
Muslim women will have the following index terms depending on what indexing policy is
followed:
○ Summarization or selective indexing: KORAN, MUSLIM WOMEN, WOMEN'S
RIGHTS
○ Depth or exhaustive indexing: KORAN, MUSLIM WOMEN, RIGHT TO
EDUCATION, RIGHT TO EMPLOYMENT, RIGHT TO DIVORCE
● Consistency – the extent to which agreement exists on the terms to be used in indexing
documents. It requires that concepts/topics in documents be represented by the same
index terms.
There are two types of consistency:
○ inter-indexer consistency – agreement on index terms to be used between or
among indexers;
○ intra-indexer consistency – the extent to which an indexer is consistent with
himself in assigning the same index terms to various topics.

Indexing Methods
● Derived indexing – ​a method by which words or phrases occurring in the title or text of a
document are utilized as index terms by a human indexer or computer. Also known as
extractive or free text indexing.
● Assigned indexing – ​a method by which words or phrases occurring in the title or text of
a document are translated into standard index terms from a standard authority
list/controlled vocabulary.

Indexing Languages : Features

● Vocabulary – ​a list of index and lead-in or approach terms arranged alphabetically or in
a classified manner
● Syntax – ​combination and modification of terms to form simple or multilevel index
terms. It is concerned with the clarity of expression, efficient and unambiguous
communication. Relationship among these terms is ad hoc or temporary.
● Semantics – in indexing, this indicates class relations among index terms which are have
a permanent
○ Equivalence relationship – denotes that there will be more than supposed to
relationship. ​one term denoting the same concept.
○ Hierarchical relationship – denotes three types of relationship from general to
specific
○ Associative or nonhierarchical relationship –denotes a relationship of terms where
one term can be related or associated with other terms primarily because of
experience.
Indexing Evaluation Checklist

"An index is not an outline, nor is it a concordance. It's an intelligently compiled list of
topics covered in the work, prepared with the reader's needs in mind."

● Reader
∙ ​Are the indexed terms appropriate for the intended audience?
● Appropriateness
∙ ​Is it in context?

● Main Headings
∙ ​Are the main headings relevant to the needs of the reader? Are they pertinent, specific,
comprehensive? Not too general yet not too narrow? Not inane or improbable?
∙ ​Do main headings have not more than 5–7 locators (page references)? If more, they should be
broken down into subheadings.

● Subheadings ​∙ ​Are the subheadings useful? In the example below,

∙ ​the page ranges are extensive
∙ ​the subheading "problems with Republicans" may be too general Roosevelt, Franklin problems
with Republicans, 1–32
∙ ​Are subheadings concise, with the most important word at the beginning?
∙ ​Unnecessary words and phrases like "concerning" and "relating to" and proliferation of
prepositions and articles should be avoided.
∙ ​Is the number of subheadings about right? More than one column’s worth is probably too many.
∙ ​Are subheadings overanalyzed? Could they be combined? For example, could "dimensions" be
substituted for "height," "width," and "length"? Or should some subheadings become main
headings with their own subheadings instead?
∙ ​Do subheadings have more than 5–7 locators? If more, they should either be broken down into
sub-subheadings or be changed to main headings.
Double Postings
∙ ​For the reader’s convenience, many subheadings should be double posted—that is, they should
exist as main headings too. An example: "Cats: Siamese" and "Siamese cats." Has this
been done? Double postings should, of course, have the same locators. Do they?
Locators (Page References)
∙ ​Are the locators accurate?
∙ ​When locators include roman numerals or volume numbers,
does the typography make the usage clear?
Cross-References
∙ ​Have ​see a​ nd ​see also ​cross-references been provided?
∙ ​A ​see  s​ hould direct the reader to a different term expressing the same concept, such as
"Clemens, Samuel. ​See ​Twain, Mark" or "aerobics ​see ​exercise".
∙ ​A ​see  also  ​should guide the reader from a complete entry to the related entries for more and
different information. Examples: "Mammals: 81, 85, 105; ​see  also  ​names of individual
mammals" "astronomy 12–14, 56, 68. ​See also ​galaxies; planets"
Length and Type
∙ ​Is the index length adequate for the complexity of the book?
An index should be 3–5% of the pages in the typical nonfiction book, perhaps 5–8% for a history
or biography, and more (15– 20%) for reference books.
∙ ​Is there a need for more than one type of index? For example, in addition to the usual subject
index, perhaps a separate name or place index is called for. If so, is there one?
Format
∙ ​Is the type large enough to be easily read? Do the index pages look open and not crowded?
∙ ​Are the main headings and subheadings (and sub-subheadings if any) distinguished from each
other?
∙ ​Is the organization—whether alphabetical, chronological, or other—accurate, clear, and
consistent?
∙ ​When an entry’s subheadings "turn a page" that is, are continued from a right-hand page to a
left-hand page, the main heading should be repeated, followed by the word ​continued ​in
parentheses​.  ​Depending on the size of the pages, continued headings might be appropriate for
continuations from left to right pages, or even from left to right columns. Are they present?
∙ ​Preferences for punctuation between main headings and their subheadings and ​see a​ nd ​see also 
cross-references will vary from publisher to publisher. This discussion features several
acceptable variants. The important thing is that the punctuation style be clear to the reader and
consistent. Is it?

Methodologies for Indexing

● Stand-alone or Dedicated
○ Usually used for back-of-the-book indexes,
○ Allow indexers to work from page numbered galleys
○ The indexing is completely separate from the published material
● Embedded Indexing
○ Is the process of creating index entries
○ Electronically in a document’s files.
○ The indexer inserts the index entries as invisible text in the electronic files.
○ Embedded indexes allow you to make changes to the document and then
recompile the index.
○ Ex: FrameMaker, Microsoft Word, Adobe PageMaker, and Quark Xpress, SGML,
HTML (Markup languages that allow for embedding indexing include)
○ Embedded Indexing are useful
■ adjusting the layout or formatting of a document
■ making minor updates or additions to a document
■ creating an index for an online or hypertext document
● Tagging
○ Allow indexing codes to be embedded in the electronic text after the indexing is
complete
○ The indexer inserts numbered dummy tags in the files and then builds the index
separately
○ The final step uses macros to insert the indexing at each tag in the files
○ Many of these tools are developed-in- house to fit the publishing group’s needs
● Keywording
 ○ Is used primarily in online help materials
○ It can be inserted as embedded coding and built into a list by the software
● Automated Indexing
○ A tool mostly in processing software
○ ​Builds a concordance or a word list, from processed files
● Controlled-Vocabulary
○ Involves the use of Sear’s list, classification Table to accurately assign subject
heading to a document
○ It enables the professional indexer to fine- tune terminologies
○ And build needed hierarchies of ideas
○ And to go to the most specific term or phrase to describe a document

Indexing System - ​A set of prescribed procedures (manual and/or machine) for organizing the
contents of records of knowledge for purposes of retrieval and dissemination.
● Coordinate Indexing
○ an indexing system that allows two or more single terms to be combined or
coordinated to create a new concept.
For example, if the individual index terms ADULT and EDUCATION are combined, we have a
new concept: ADULT EDUCATION.
○ Coordinate indexing can be further subdivided into Pre- coordinate and
Post-coordinate Indexing.
● Alphabetical Subject Indexing
○ this is best exemplified by the alphabetical subject catalog which contains subject
entries and cross references arranged alphabetically in one sequence.
○ The periodical indexes compiled and published by H.W. Wilson are the most
widely known, e.g., Education Index, Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature,
Library Literature and Information Science.
● Classified Indexing
○ brings about a systematic arrangement of index terms whereby related subjects
are put together. The entries are grouped under relatively broad subject categories
and more specific subject access is provided by means of alphabetical subject
indexes.
○ The present Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) format is one
example. LISA lists the broad subject categories under which the abstracts are
organized and provides specific index terms to the former. PubMed (formerly
Index Medicus), Applied Science and Technology Index, and the Engineering
Index are other examples.
● Permuted Title Indexing
○ this system relies heavily on the titles of documents and therefore, will only work
effectively if the titles of documents are highly specific and expressive.
○ A stoplist is constructed which contains a list of words which are not of value for
indexing. The computer is then programmed to delete any entries which might
arise under these terms.
● Faceted Indexing

● Chain indexing
○ was developed by S.R. Ranganathan of India.
○ This was an attempt to develop systematically an alphabetical subject index for a
classified catalog. It involves indexing each step of the hierarchical chain from the
most specific to the most general.
● Citation Indexing
○ The development of citation indexing goes back to one century ago when the
legal profession developed an index, Shepard's Citations, to account for legal
decisions and legal citations.
○ Eugene Garfield developed this system of indexing primarily for bibliographic
purposes and as a research tool for studying the behavioral characteristics of the
literature.
● String Indexing
○ This indexing system dates back to the works of Farradane, Ranganathan, Cutter,
and other classificationists.
○ It aims to display a series of rotating index entries from a basic list of index terms
that make up a string.
○ Examples: PRECIS, NEPHIS, POPSI, and CIFT are examples of string indexes.
 ■ PRECIS (PREserved Context Index System) was developed by Derek
Austin as an indexing system for the British National Bibliography
(BNB). In PRECIS, the indexer writes down the subject as a string of
terms forming a title-like statement. Each term is then allocated a role
operator by the indexer in order to represent term relationships clearly.
■ NEPHIS (Nested Phrase Indexing System) – this was developed by
Timothy Craven as a simple way of generating strings from which index
entries could be generated by computer.
● Four symbols are used:
○ < > left and right angular brackets mark the beginning and
○ end of a phrase embedded or nested within a larger phrase
○ ? question mark to introduce a connective
○ @ sign to mark a term not to be used as an access point
■ POPSI (Postulate-based Permuted Subject Indexing) – developed by G.
Bhattacharya at the Documentation Research and Training Centre in
Bangalore, India. It derives its postulates from Ranganathan's theories of
classification.
● Postulates:
○ Subject- Proposition
○ Elementary categories:
■ Discipline (D) – conventional field of study or
branch of learning, e.g., Mathematics, Arts
■ Entity (E) – object of study, e.g., Numbers, Courses,
Plants, Languages Action (A) – concept of doing,
e.g., Migration, Diagnosis, etc.
■ Property (P) – denotes attribute, e.g., Power,
Weight, Taste, etc.
■ CIFT (Contextual Indexing and Faceted Taxonomic Access System) – was
developed by J.D. Anderson for the Modern Language Association
(MLA).
● Alphabetical subject entries are created from strings provided by
the indexer who assigns facets derived from literature, linguistics,
and folklore. Has a set of 21 facets for the description and
classification of art literature and these are provided in a
worksheet.
Measures of Effectiveness of the Indexing Systems
1. Recall measure – ​a simple quantitative ratio of relevant documents retrieved to the total
number of relevant documents potentially available. Recall depends on the level of
exhaustivity allowed by the indexing policy.
If there are 100 relevant documents in the library that are relevant to the user's information needs
and the indexing system retrieves 75, then the recall ratio is 75 out of 100 (75/100). Recall for
this search is 75 percent effective
2. Precision measure – the ratio of relevant documents retrieved to the total number of
documents retrieved. Relevance or precision depends on the terminology of the text being
indexed and the specificity of the indexing language used.
If 100 documents are retrieved and 50 of these items are relevant to the request, the precision
ratio is 50 to 100 (50/100). Precision for this search is 50 percent effective.

Subject Indexing Process - involves two important steps:

● Subject/conceptual analysis
● Translation.

1. Recording bibliographic data – Important bibliographic elements that identify a particular

document are recorded
2. Subject/conceptual analysis – this involves deciding what the document is about, i. e.,
what it covers.
3. Translation into Standard or Authorized Terms
a. this involves the conversion of the terms in the transformed title into standard or
authorized terms.
4. Generating Index Entries – index entries may be generated manually or using the
computer. Such entries often include the author, title, and subject entries.
a. Mechanics:
i. Use of a preprinted form/bibliographic worksheet for encoding
ii. Editing for cross references, spelling, punctuation, headings, subheadings,
etc
b. Arrangement:
i. Alphabetical
ii. Classified

Example of Subject Analysis:

Analytico-synthetic method - ​ developed by S.R. Ranganathan

● Raw title​ = title proper and other title information of the document
● Expressive title ​= title supplied by the indexer as taken from the title of the document
and/or the other parts of the document; this is expressive or descriptive of the subject
content of the document.
● Kernel title = the significant words in the expressive title minus the articles,
prepositions, conjunctions, and other insignificant words.
● Transformed title = the significant words in the kernel title but rearranged in a helpful
manner. This particular sequence of the words in the transformed title is known as the
significance or citation order.
Example:
Indexing Process

I. Process and Procedures

● Manual
● Automated

II. Indexing Language

● The language used to describe the subject or other aspect of information or document in
an index.
● It is a system in identifying or naming subjects contained in a document.
● Types
○ Controlled Vocabulary / Artificial Language - This is considered an authority list
from which an indexer draws the appropriate index terms, especially when doing
assigned indexing. It represents the general conceptual structure of one or more
subject areas and presents a guide to the indexer..
■ Subject Heading List - lists of terms representing numerous subject fields
Examples: Sears List of Subject Headings and Library of Congress
Subject Headings (LCSH). Some subject headings lists focus on specific
subject fields like the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), Subject
Headings in Engineering (SHE), or Headings for Children's Materials.
■ Classification Scheme - generally contain coded expressions or notations
corresponding to the relevant topics in a particular class or subclass. These
are arranged hierarchically, from the broadest topic to the most specific
ones. However, these contain subject indexes to guide the users to the
specific parts of the classification scheme.
Examples: Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Library of
Congress Classification (LCC), Universal Decimal Classification
(UDC), Colon Classification (CC), Bliss Classification (BC), and
Expansive Classification (EC).
■ Thesauri - cover more specific or narrower subject fields
Examples: focusing on education: IBE Thesaurus, Thesaurus of
ERIC Descriptors, Unesco Thesaurus; others, on population:
POPIN Thesaurus, POPLINE Thesaurus; on women, Women's
 Thesaurus, Thesaurus on Filipino Women, Women in
Development Thesaurus; on engineering, Thesaurofacet, INSPEC
Thesaurus, etc.
○ Natural Language / Free Language ​ - Use of this allows the indexer to select the
terms from the text or document. The rationale for this is based on the idea that
the author uses words that are typically expressive of the subject field under
discussion.
■ Keywords descriptors, etc.
■ KWIC, KWAC, KWOC, etc.

KWIC index; keyword in context index,

● An automaticindexing​ developed in 1958 at IBM by Hans Peter Luhn.
KWIC (Keyword In Context)
● Each word that is not a stop-word becomes an entry word (aka lead term).
● Entry words are aligned within the page.
KWAC (=Keyword alongside context)
KWOC (=Keyword out of context) are modifications of KWIC.

Example: Cataloging and classification for Croatians

KWIC:
Cataloging and classification classification for Croatians.
Croatians. Cataloging and classification

Treat "and" and "for" as stop words, i.e. not to be used as index terms.

KWAC
Cataloging​ and classification for Croatians.
classification​ for Croatians. Cataloging and
Croatians​. Cataloging and classification for

KWOC
Cataloging ​Cataloging and classification for Croatians.
classification ​Cataloging and classification for Croatians.
Croatians. ​Cataloging and classification for Croatians

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Natural Language and a Controlled Vocabulary

Process / Procedure in Indexing
1. Bibliographic description
a. includes useful data
b. consistent with format
c. follow given template / worksheet of software used
Ex: Initials of Author

Use the known initials of author’s given name especially if it is acceptable to user and
will cause no ambiguity
2. Analysis of contents – aim at in-depth indexing
a. Examine Atle, abstract, table of contents, text and reference section of the item
i. Title - indicative of document
ii. Abstract - actual information facts, can be fundamental indicators of
subject content
iii. Text – would give a shortcut to understand subject content
1. Introduction – going to be said
2. summary and conclusion – what has been said
iv. Reference Section – lists that are reflective of the subject content
1. Citation index
2. Bibliographic coupling technique – establishes a similarity
relationship between documents
Ex: Two documents are bc if they both cite one or more documents
in common
b. Relate the content to the user
c. Subject determination. Subjects represented in the work should be idenAfied in
the work, making up a list of possible descriptors.
d. Conversion into indexing language. Translate indexable concepts into the
standard index terminology
e. Prepaid index entries
3. Production of index entries – hard copy / softcopy
Index by Categories
● Alphabetical Index
● Author Index
● Book Index
● Citation Index
● Classified Index
● Coordinate Index
● Cumulative Index
● Faceted Index
● First-line Index
● Hypermedia Index
● Internet Index
● Multimedia Index
● Periodical Index
● Permuted Title Index
● String Index
● ​Word Index

Alphabetical Indexes
● The arrangement of an index in alphabetical order is the most common method
● The arrangement of subject heading, cross-references, and qualifying terms are
also alphabetical
Author Indexes
● Consist of people, organizations, corporate authors, government agencies,
universities
● Authors can be used as an indirect subject approach
● Authors are strong indicators of subject content
Book Indexes
● List of words, generally alphabetical, at the back of a book
● Giving a page location of the subject or name
● Books without index are incomplete
Citation Indexes
● A citation index consists of a list of articles, with a sublist under each article of
subsequently published papers that cite the articles
● A cited paper has an internal subject relationship with the papers that cite it
Example of Citation Indexes
​Arts & Humanities Citation Index
​Science Citation Index
​Social Science Citation Index
​CSSCI
​CSCD
​THCI
​TSSCI
Classified Indexes
● Its contents arranged systematically by classes or subject headings
● It is important for scientific purpose
● Layman find classified indexes difficult to use
● The indexes are very valuable in the appropriate environment
Coordinate Indexes
● Coordinate indexes allow terms to be combined or coordinated
● Combine two or more single terms to create a new class
Cumulative Indexes
● A combination or merging of a set of indexes cover time
● Apply to journals and to large, important works and are published as separate
volumes
● Cumulative indexes are complex and usually are done by teams of indexers
● Require a good deal of editing because of duplications, terminology changes and
a need to adjust the depth of indexing
First-line Indexes
● Applied to poems
● All the words in the first line of a poem are listed in their alphabetical order
● Another interesting example - First-line index for music
Miscellaneous Indexes
● Hypermedia Indexes
● Allows users to thread their way to what they want through electronic nodes and
links between those node.
● Much more transparent to the user
​Internet Indexes
​Multimedia Indexes
Word Index
● ​Individual names and word in documents
● Bible concordance

Challenges in Indexing
• Consistency
• Index to maximum specificity • Avoid circular references
• Avoid scattering
• Permanence of location

Indexing Plan – is a record of basic indexing decisions or policies. It should be

developed in advance of any actual indexing, and it has to be maintained, revised, and
updated periodically.

Why create an indexing plan?

● Ensure completeness and consistency of access to subjects to avoid misleading
users
 ● Avoid having to go over a document again and again to re-index as on-the-spot
decisions are made
● Keep the index within reasonable limits
● Ensure that the indexer has followed the library's policy on how the index should
be structured

Indexing Plan: Contents

● Statement on the users of the index
● Documents to be indexed
● Parts of the documents to be indexed
● Concepts to be indexed
● Depth of indexing
● Indexing vocabulary to be used
● Handling of errors
● Integration or separation of index entries Format
● Alphabetization

Production of Index Entries

1. Book Index
a. Elements of a book index:
i. Main heading - top line in the index entry hierarchy; also referred
to as access point, index term
ii. Subheading – lines of indented text that follow the main heading
iii. Reference locator – page number/s
iv. Cross reference – directs user to preferred index terms or related
index terms
Purpose of book indexing
● Point to the very specific topics, names of persons, and/or titles of publications
discussed in a book by rearranging these in an alphabetical order and indicating
their exact location through the reference locator.
● Provide main and subordinate headings, locators, and cross references such that
searching may be generic, proceeding from the general to the more specific,
based on the structure and text of a book.
● Provide access to specific information in a book using the natural language or
free text, i.e., the language used by the author.

2. Periodical Index
a. Elements of a Periodical Index
i. Index term with or without a subdivision Name of author/s in
inverted order
ii. Title of periodical article
iii. Periodical title*
iv. Volume and/or issue number
v. Inclusive pages
vi. Date of publication
 vii. Cross references

Standards used in periodical indexing

● These represent the criteria for measuring and assessing indexes
● These are the result of collective history of experience
● These attempt to codify experience and successful tradition
● These promote consistency and uniformity

3. Newspaper Index
a. Elements of a Newspaper Index
i. Index term with or without a subdivision
ii. Name of author or columnist in inverted form Title of news article
and/or title of column
iii. Newspaper title*
iv. Column number/s
v. Inclusive pages
vi. Date of publication
vii. Cross references

Indexing Standards
International Organization for Standardization. Information and Documentation
Guidelines for the Content, Organization, and Presentation of Indexes. (ISO 999-1996).
Geneva: ISO, 1996.
__________________. Guidelines for the establishment and development of
monolingual thesauri. (ISO 2788-1986). Geneva: ISO, 1986.
___________________. Guidelines for the establishment and development of
multilingual thesauri. (ISO5964-1985). Geneva: ISO, 1985.
___________________. Rules for the abbreviation of title words and titles of
publications. (ISO 4-1997). Geneva: ISO, 1997.
British Standards Institution. Recommendations for Examining Documents, Determining
Their Subjects, and Selecting Indexing Terms. (BS 6529:1984). London: BSI, 1984.
____________________. Guide to establishment and development of monolingual
thesauri. (BS 5723:1987). London: BSI, 1987.
___________________. Guide to establishment and development of multilingual
thesauri. (BS6723: 1985). London: BSI, 1985.
American National Standards Institute. Guidelines for Abstracts. (ANSI/NISO
Z39.14-1994 (R2002). New York: ANSI, 1994.
___________________. Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of
Monolingual Thesauri. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19 – 2003). New York: ANSI, 2003.

Automatic Indexing
● Refers to indexing by machine, or the analysis of text by means of computer
algorithms. Most automatic indexing systems are not really “automatic” in the
sense of substituting computers for humans, but are intended to assist the
human indexer.
 ● “machine-aided indexing”
● 4 Approaches
○ Statistical – based on counts of words, statistical associations, and
collation techniques that assigns weighs, cluster similar words
○ Syntactical – stresses grammar and parts of speech, identifying concepts
found in designated grammatical combinations, such as noun phrases.
○ Semantic systems – concerned with the context sensitivity of words in the
text. What does cat mean in terms of its context? House cats? Heavy
earthmoving equipment?
○ Knowledge-based – systems goes beyond thesaurus or equivalent
relationships to knowing the relationship between words, e.g. ‘tibia’ is part
of a leg, thus the document is indexed under ‘leg injuries’.

Automatic Extraction Indexing

● Text exists in electronic form
● Computer is programmed to perform extraction indexing using criteria such as:
○ frequency with which a term appears in a document
○ position of the term where it appears – title, summary, captions,
illustrations, etc.
○ context
● Text may be in print or electronic format
● Develop for each term to be assigned, a “profile” of words or phrases that tend
to occur frequently in documents to which a computer would assign that term
○ Every term in a controlled vocabulary should have a profile associated
with it so that computer programs could be used to match the significant
phrases in a document with this collection of profiles

Indexing Software
● serves as a tool to indexers in processing voluminous index terms; it does not
create indexes automatically but is likened to a word processor.
● Using a word processor or desktop publishing system to create an index for
another document
○ This has two advantages: 1) it can be used when the indexer cannot
access the source file for the document to be indexed; and 2) familiarity
and reduced costs since the software that is used to compile the index is
used for other purposes as well.
● Standalone indexing program / dedicated indexing software – usually used for
back-of-the- book indexes since it allows indexers to work from page-numbered
galleys and completely separate from the published material.

Embedded indexing ​– process of creating index entries electronically in a document's

file and entering index markers directly into the document.
Ex: AdobeFrameMak3er and Microsoft Word are the programs used most often in
embedded indexing.
Major standalone / dedicated indexing software
● MACREX - by Macrex Indexing Services ([Link]); developed and
marketed by Hilary and Drusilla Calvert in the United Kingdom. A computer
program designed to assist indexers working from printed proofs, text on disk,
the author's manuscript, or an already completed book.
● CINDEX – produced by Indexing Research ([Link]) and founded by
Frances Lennie in 1985; currently has Windows and Mac versions. It is a uniquely
capable program for preparing indexes to books, newspapers, and other
periodical publications; also used to prepare glossaries or to create subject
authority lists based on existing indexes.
● HTML Indexer – a tool for creating and maintaining a back-of-the-book index for
Web sites, intranets, and other HTML documents in classic HTML, HTML Help,
and Javahelp formats.
● SKY Index – under constant development by Kamm Schreiner of SKY Software in
the United States (​[Link]​).
○ It is written in Windows and uses an interface similar to that of Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet. Has Student and Professional editions. Features: 1)
undo/redo; 2) user interface: data entry grid and preview pane
side-by-side; 3) option

Trends in Indexing
● Image indexing or Indexing visual images – more subjective and less consistent;
deals with the “Ofness” (more concrete, what one sees, hard aspect) and the
“ABOUTness” (more abstract, what is depicted, soft aspect) of an image..
○ Concept-based image indexing – word-based descriptions of images such
as title, keywords, phrases, synopsis, or caption. These are referred to as
high-level features. Examples: horse jumping, lotus, child care.
○ Content-based image indexing – based on images' intrinsic or low- level
features such as shape, color, texture, etc.
● Website Indexing – often called A-Z or site indexing; a finding aid for a web site,
intranet, or sub-site organized in the same manner as the traditional,
alphabetical back-of-the-book index
○ Types of website indexes: 1) indexes of e-books; 2) indexes of entire Web
sites; and 3) periodical indexes.
● Database Indexing
● XML Indexing

Resources for Indexers

Indexing Services – websites for indexing services that offer services that indexers
might be interested in; also provide useful information about indexing in general.
● H.W. Wilson Home Page ([Link] presents indexes, indexing
information, reference tools, etc.
● Index West ([Link] offers to create quality indexes
for many types of publications and indexing workshops.
 ● Marilyn Joyce Rowland ([Link] offers service for back- of-the-book
indexing, periodical indexing, embedded indexing and web site indexing.

ABSTRACTING

HISTORY of ABSTRACTING

● 3rd century B.C. - abstracts of business records

● 1200 A.D. - rise of the scholarly journals
● 14th century - Pope Pierce II had abstracts of his favorite readings
● 16th-17th century – unpublished Elizabethan scientific abstracts
● 18th century – rise of general abstracting journals 19th century – rise of specializing
journals
● 20th-21st century – characterized by information explosion and computers; automatic
abstracting; information overload and the Internet

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Abstract
● An abbreviated, accurate representation of the significant contents of a document (ISO 214)
● A brief and objective representation of a document or an oral presentation (NISO Z39.14).

Abstracting – process of analyzing and providing a brief, accurate and clear representation of
the significant contents of a document.
​
​DOCUMENT SURROGATES
● Annotation – description of the contents of a document, usually to clarify the title.
● Extract – one or more portions from a document lifted verbatim to represent the whole.
● Summary – brief restatement of the salient findings and conclusions intended to complete
the orientation of the reader; may be found at the beginning of the article or at the end.
● Terse literature – highly abbreviated statement that encapsulates the major points of a
document.
​
​USES OF ABSTRACTS
1. Promote current awareness
2. Save reading time
3. Facilitate selection and literature searches Help overcome the language barrier
4. Improve indexing efficiency
5. Aid in the preparation of reviews
​
​PRINCIPLES OF ABSTRACTING

1. Accuracy
 2. Brevity
3. Clarity
​
PURPOSE OF ABSTRACTING
​
​ The main purpose of a modular abstract is to eliminate duplication and waste of intellectual
effort involved in the independent abstracting of the same documents by several abstracting
services.

• ​To decrease the time and effort it takes to search the overwhelming output from research and
scholarship around the world
• To help researchers to decide which document is appropriate for their research
• To satisfy users needs for both current and retrospective information
• To overcome language barrier
• Plays an important role in the structure of a computer-based system

5 MAIN GOALS OF ABSTRACTING

● Help readers decide if they should read an entire article

○ Interesting to user
○ Relates to a topic user is working on
○ readers use abstracts to help them gauge the sophistication or complexity of a
piece of writing
● Help readers and researchers remember key findings on a topic
○ Even after reading an ar(cle, readers oLen keep abstracts to remind them of which
sources support conclusions
○ Because abstracts include complete bibliographic cita(ons, they are helpful when
readers begin writing up their research and ci(ng sources
● Help readers understand a text by ac(ng as a pre-reading outline of key points
○ Like other pre-reading strategies, reading an abstract before reading an ar(cle
helps readers anticipate what’s coming in the text itself
○ Using an abstract to get an overview of the text makes reading the text easier and
more efficient
● Index articles for quick recovery and cross-referencing
○ Even before computers made indexing easier, abstracts helped librarians and
researchers find informa(on more easily
○ With so many indexes now available electronically, abstracts with their keywords
are even more important because readers can review hundreds of abstracts quickly
to find the ones most useful for their research
○ Moreover, cross-referencing through abstracts opens up new areas of research that
readers might not have known about when they started researching a topic.
● Allow supervisors to review technical work without becoming bogged down in details
○ Although many managers and supervisors will prefer the less technical executive
summary, some managers need to keep abreast of technical work
 ○ Research shows that only 15% of managers read the complete text of reports or
articles
○ Most managers, then, rely on the execu(ve summary or abstract as the clearest
overview of employees’ work.

​
TYPES OF MATERIALS ABSTRACTED

• Books and monographs

• Journal abstract (Articles Of Journals)
• Technical reports
• Dissertations
• Patent Specifications
• Conference and symposium proceedings
• Reviews
• Art work e.g. Play, Film

WRITER OF ABSTRACTS

• Author
• Subject specialist
• Professional abstractor

STRUCTURE OF AN ABSTRACTS

1. Structure
○ an abstract in non- narrative form wherein the abstractor lists the items in a
template as these are found in documents.
○ This type of abstract works well only for subject areas wherein the essential
elements /items are more or less the same from one study to another.
○ With logical sections
○ Subheadings are explicitly given
○ Usually follows pattern
○ Types
■ Four elements
● The research focus (i.e. statement of the problem(s)/research
issue(s) addressed);
● The research methods used (experimental research, case studies,
questionnaires, etc.);
● The results/findings of the research; and
● The main conclusions and recommendations
■ logical sections
● Background
● Introduction
 ● Objectives
● Methods
● Results
● Conclusions
■ IMRAD
● most prominent norm for the structure of a scientific journal article
acronym for
a. Introduction - Why was the study undertaken? What was
the research question, the tested hypothesis or the purpose
of the research?
b. Methods - When, where, and how was the study done?
What materials were used or who was included in the study
groups (pa(ents, etc.)?
c. Results - What answer was found to the research ques(on;
what did the study find? Was the tested hypothesis true?
d. Discussion - What might the answer infer and why does it
matter? How does it fit in with what other researchers have
found? What are the perspec(ves for future research?
2. Unstructured
a. comprises one paragraph
b. no explicit subheadings

STANDARDS IN ABSTRACTING

1. Recommendations, guidelines and standards for abstracts have been developed and are
relevant not only for authors of documents themselves, but also for compilers of abstracts
for an information service or secondary publications
2. International Standard
3. ISO 214-1976
a. Abstracts for publication and documentation
4. Other guidelines, rules, etc. developed by abstracting and indexing (A&I) services,
information systems for their own use:
● EFCE. Draft recommendations for abstracts and abstracting. 1976
● IAEA-INIS. Instructions for submitting abstracts. 1976.
● ACS. Directions for abstractors. 1971.
● DFS. An introduction to indexing and abstracting for technical information
systems. 1971.
● Defense Documentation Center. Abstracting scientific and technical reports of
defense-sponsored RDT/E AD667000. 1968.
​
​TYPES OF ABSTRACTS

1. BY TYPE OF INFORMATION
a. INDICATIVE ABSTRACT - simply describes or indicates what the document is
about.
b. INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT - provides readers with quantitative and qualitative
information in the document.
c. SLANTED ABSTRACT - the information or description reported in a document
is oriented to a specific discipline to which the abstracting service is devoted.
discipline-oriented abstract mission-oriented abstract
d. CRITICAL ABSTRACT - an evaluative abstract. Contains views and comments
on the quality of work of the author and comparison/contrast with other works.
e. Highlight abstract
f. An abstract designed to rouse the readers interest
g. Homotopic abstract
h. Abstracts published with the document
i. Graphical abstracts
i. is intended to summarize or be an exemplar for the main thrust of the
article
ii. summary is not intended to be as exhaustive as the text abstract
iii. Is used to indicate the type, scope, and technical coverage of the article at
a glance
iv. During the late 2000s, due to the influence of computer storage and
retrieval systems such as the Internet, some scientific publica(ons, such as
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, started including graphical
abstracts alongside the text abstracts.
v. a single, concise, pictorial and visual summary of the main findings of the
article
vi. could either be the concluding figure from the article or a figure that is
specially designed for the purpose, which captures the content of the
article for readers at a single glance
vii. Authors must provide an image that clearly represents the work
viii. described in the paper
j. Video Abstract
i. is the motion picture equivalent of a written abstract.
ii. Usually not longer than 5 minutes
iii. helps the viewer to get a quick overview on a scholarly paper, research
article, thesis or review: and to quickly ascertain the purpose and results of
a given research.
 k. MINI ABSTRACT - a highly structured abstract designed primarily for searching
by computer. The terms are drawn from a controlled vocabulary and are arranged
in a specified sequence nearly approximating that of a sentence structure
Example of a mini abstract:
METHOD/DETERMINATION/STRONTIUM/HUMAN/BONE/RADIOACTIV
ATION/ANALYSIS
Subject statement: A method is described for the determination of strontium and
barium in human bone by radioactivation analysis.
2. Examples of Discipline-Oriented Abstracts:
a. Abstracts in Anthropology
b. Communication Abstracts
c. Educational Administration Abstracts
d. International Political Science Abstracts
e. Library and Information Science Abstracts Women Studies Abstracts
3. ​BY WHOM WRITTEN
a. AUTHOR-PREPARED ABSTRACT - prepared by authors of documents for
publication together with the document.
b. SUBJECT EXPERT- PREPARED ABSTRACT - this may be an excellent
abstract if the expert is trained and experienced in the procedures and methods of
abstracting.
c. PROFESSIONAL ABSTRACTOR-PREPARED ABSTRACT - prepared by a
person who has been trained in the procedures and methods of abstracting.
4. BY FORM
 a. STATISTICAL OR TABULAR ABSTRACT - gives a summary of the data in
tabular form. This is used for certain specialized subjects, such as thermophysical
properties, where the emphasis is exclusively tabular or statistical.
Examples of this type of abstract may be found in the Statistical Abstracts of the
United States.
b. MODULAR ABSTRACT - a full content description of a document consisting of
five parts:
i. citation;
ii. annotation;
iii. indicative abstract;
iv. informative abstract;
v. critical abstract.

​TYPES OF MATERIALS COMMONLY ABSTRACTED

• Monographs/books
• Journal articles
• Newspaper articles
• Technical reports
• Theses/dissertations
• Patent specifications
• Meeting/conference/symposium proceedings
• Reviews
​
FOUR MAJOR ​PARTS OF ABSTRACTS

● REFERENCE - complete bibliographic citation of the original document

● BODY - describes the content of the original document briefly and succinctly
● SIGNATURE - indicates abstractor’s name and his affiliation
● KEYWORDS - used in indexing by information retrieval systems
​
​Four Key Steps of GAP
● ​Text
● INTENDED INTERPRETATION
● ABS Reading/Understanding Selection Interpretation Synthesis
● FIRST INTERPRETATION UN SECOND INTERPRETATION
​
​ABSTRACTING PROCESS
1. Reading/Understanding – introductory paragraphs and text are scanned for key
information
2. Selection – abstractor marks the important phrases and passages and jots down marginal
notes
3. Interpretation -abstractor uses reasoning and inference; starts organizing the phrases and
passages previously marked as well as the marginal notes jotted down
4. Synthesis/Analytical description – desired type of abstract is carefully considered in
writing the final draft
​
​CITATIONS IN ABSTRACTS
● Citation formats are provided by:
a. ISO 690-1987 Bibliographic references – Content,
b. form and structure
c. ISO/CD 690-1987 – Content, form and structure
d. ISO 690-2:1997 – Bibliographic references – Part 2: Electronic documents or
parts thereof
● Citation format for monographs/books:
a. Surname/s of author/s, forename/s
b. Title of publication (underlined/italics/all caps) Edition number
c. Place of publication
d. Publisher
e. Year of publication
f. Total number of pages
Sample citation format for monographs:
Lancaster, F.W. Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. London: Facet
Publishing, 2003. 451 p.
​
● Citation format for journal articles:
a. Surname/s of author/s, forename/s Title of article
b. Title of journal (underline/italics)
c. Volume number
d. Issue number in parentheses
e. Inclusive pages
f. Date of publication of journal
Sample citation format for journal articles:
Parkinson, Claire L. Paradigm transitions in mathematics. Philos Math 2(2): 127-150 2005
​
​Qualities of a Good Abstract
● Generally, an abstract consists of just one paragraph. However, in structured abstracts,
the major points are presented in several labeled paragraphs.
● Short, simple, complete sentences are required for easy access to the information.
● The first sentence of an abstract should not repeat what is in the title and should avoid
naming the type of document.
● Technical words and phrases should be those currently used in the subject field under
consideration.
● Only the most common abbreviations and standard symbols should be used.
● Discuss the following in order: objective, methods, results and conclusions (OMRC).
● Use verbs in the active voice whenever possible.
● Use the third person pronoun.
● Provide logical connections between materials included.
● Avoid adding background information, literature review or detailed discussion of
methods.
 ● No restriction should be placed on absolute length of the abstract. It should be of the
length necessary to make it the most direct, concise, unified statement possible.
● Length of an Abstract
Document Length
Articles, Monograph 250 words
Technical Reports 250 words
Theses and Dissertations 300 words
● Approximate proportions of parts of the abstract
Nature and scope of the study 3%
Objectives 7%
Research method 15%
Findings/Results 70%
Conclusions 5%
​
​Steps for Writing Effective Abstracts

● Reread the article, particularly the introduction, purpose, methods, scope, results,
conclusions, recommendations and summary.
● Use the headings, outline heads and table of contents as guide.
● After rereading the article, write a rough draft without looking back at what you’re
abstracting.
● Don’t merely copy key sentences from the article; you’ll put in too much or too little
information.
● Summarize information in a new way.
● Revise your draft to correct weaknesses in organization.
● Improve transitions from point to point.
● Drop unnecessary information.
● Add important information you left out.
● Eliminate wordiness.
● Print your final copy and read it again to catch any more errors.

Processes for Writing Abstracts

1. Cut and Paste Method

a. As you read through your own paper, highlight or copy sentences which
summarize the entire paper or individual sections or sub-points of your main
argument.
b. Write (or copy) a sentence that summarizes the main point.
c. Add sentences that summarize sections (or write new sentences for sections that
lack a concise summary sentence).
d. If you're writing a descriptive abstract, you're ready to begin revising.
e. If you're writing an informative abstract, look through your paper for details,
particularly of key findings or major supporting arguments and major
conclusions. Paste these into your abstract and proceed to editing for consistency
 and length--frequently in the original "cuts" you will still have more detail than is
necessary in an abstract.
2. Outlining Method
a. Backwards Outline Instructions
i. Read through each paragraph of your paper and write one phrase or
sentence that answers the question "what does this paragraph do?"
ii. Take your list of descriptions for each paragraph and look for connections:
i.e., do these 3 or 5 paragraphs do something similar? What is it?
iii. When you've reduced your outline to 4 or 5 accurate generalizations, you
most likely have a descriptive abstract.
iv. If you're writing an informative abstract, fill in key details about your
content.
b. Detailed Backwards Outline
Because informative abstracts need more detail, the regular backwards outline may not be
as useful a strategy for this type of abstract. Instead, do a backwards outline on the lefthand
side of a piece of paper. Then, on the right-hand side, answer the question "what
does this paragraph ​say?" ​for each paragraph in the paper. Then complete the steps
below:
1. Take your first column and generalize down to 4-5 sentences about what the
paper ​does. 
2. Use these sentences as topic sentences for the paragraphs in your abstract.
3. Now, go to your second column and choose appropriate content for each section
you outlined in #2. In other words, use the right-hand column to fill in details
about what your paper says on each point outlined in #2.

Key Issues in Preparing Abstracts

• Concise, Accurate Statement of the Main Idea

• Organization of Sub points
• Use of Details
• Revising and Editing

References:
1. Bradley, P. (2007). How to Use Web 2.0 in Your Library. London : Facet.
2. Bonura, L. S. (1994). The Art of Indexing. New York: Wiley & Sons.
3. Boston, Mass. : Thomson Course Technology.
4. Chowdhury, G. G. (2010). Introduction to Modern Information Retrieval, 3rd ed.
London : Facet.
5. Chowdhury, G. G. (2007). Organizing Information : From the Shelf to the Web.
London : Facet.
6. Classification for Informal Retrieval.
7. Cleveland, D. and Anna Cleveland. (2001). Introduction to Indexing and
Abstracting. Englewood, COLO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. ISBN 1563086417.
8. Collison, R. (1971). Abstracts and Abstracting Services.
9. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science (ELIS).
10. Faderon, R. (2011). Review notes in indexing.
11. ISO Standard on Abstracting (ISO 214-1976). Geneva: ISO.
12. Morley, D. (2007). Understanding Computers : Today and Tomorrow, 11th ed.
Boston, Mass. : Thomson/Course Technology.
13. NISO Standard on Abstracting. (2011).
14. PAARL.(2011). DOI:
[Link]
15. Santos, Y. [2014]. Review notes in indexing and abstracting.
16. Shelly, G. B. (2008). Discovering Computers 2008 : Complete.
17. Svenonius, E. (2000). The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization.
Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
18. Taylor, A.G. (2004). The Organization of Information. 2nd ed. Westport, Conn.:
Libraries Unlimited.