Graduate
Indexing and
Abstracting
Syllabus
For
LIS 732
Summer
2006
Graduate
LIS
732: Indexing and Abstracting
Summer
2006
Professor
T. Kanti Srikantaiah, Ph.
D.
COURSE
DESCRIPTION
The fundamentals of indexing
and abstracting 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. (GSLIS Bulletin 2001-2003 p. 56)
Prerequisites or co-requisites: 701 and
703
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:
·
Understand
the various theories of indexing and abstracting;
·
Index
monographs;
·
Formulate
open-ended entries for the periodical literature;
·
Write
indicative, informative and hybrid abstracts;
·
Construct
and evaluate thesaurus, and interpret the rules for thesaurus construction;
·
Learn
the techniques of key-word indexes and citation indexes;
·
Understand
information in electronic formats and indexing issues;
·
Evaluate
Indexing and Abstracting products available on the market;
·
Understand
the issues in managing indexing and abstracting services; and,
· Develop sufficient knowledge to enter
free-lance consulting.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
There will be a total of
six (5) assignments to provide hands-on practice in indexing and
abstracting. 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 schedule. Any delay in submission of assignments will
affect the grading. In addition, the
course will be taught in a seminar style to encourage student
participation. The following provides
the basis for grading for each assignment and relative contribution to the
final grade.
Number Assignment Points
1. Index part of monograph
20
2. Evaluate indicative, information
and hybrid abstracts
20
3. Develop a mini-thesaurus 20
4. Evaluate a periodical index 20
5. Evaluate indexing and/or
abstracting service 20
TEXTBOOK:
Cleveland,
Donald B. and Ana D. Cleveland. Introduction
to Indexing and
Abstracting. 3rd ed.
(ISBN
1-56308-641-7)
TOPIC
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
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
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
11. Guidelines for abstracts
12. National and international standards
13. Systems approach to writing abstracts: a
checklist
SCHEDULE
|
Meetings |
Date |
Topics and Assignments |
|
1 |
May 19 Morning |
Overview
of Indexing and Abstracting Introduction:
Background and Concepts (Discussion of different types of indexes and
abstracts with examples) Textbook:
Chapters 1, 2 and 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
May 19 Afternoon |
Monograph
Indexing Textbook:
Chapters 8, 9 and 10 Assignment
# 1: Monograph
Indexing |
|
3 |
May 20 Morning |
Abstracting
Concepts and Methods Chapter
7 Thesaurus
Construction and Design Chapters
3 , 4 and 5 Assignment
# 2:
Abstracting |
|
4 |
May 20 Afternoon |
Periodical
Indexing Chapter
6 and 11 Evaluation
of Indexes Chapters
12 and 13 Assignment
# 3:
Thesaurus Construction |
The remaining part of
the course will be conducted online using Blackboard.
Assignments are due as
follows:
Assignment # 1 May 24
Assignment # 2 May
29
Assignment # 3 June
02
Assignment # 4 June
08
Assignment # 5 June
12
There will be penalty
for late submissions.