1
INDEXING and ABSTRACTING
Part I. Indexes and Indexing
Index – a tool which indicates or points out to a user the information or source of information that one needs;
it is a guide designed to indicate topics or features of documents, to facilitate information retrieval.
Indexing – the process of creating an index for the purpose of information retrieval. Indexing involves selecting
and assigning terms to represent concepts.
The function of an index is to provide users with an effective and systematic means for locating documentary
units (parts or complete documents) that are relevant to identified information needs. Indexes also serve the
following functions:
• 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
By Arrangement
• Alphabetical index – based on the orderly principle of letters of the alphabet and is used for the
arrangement of index terms and cross references.
◦ Advantages: more convenient to use and follows an order that is familiar to users.
◦ Drawbacks: problems of synonymy and scattering of entries. Scattering means that more specific
terms are not drawn together under the broader or general term but are frequently cross-
referenced. Synonymy is a kind of semantic or permanent relationship of terms. Two words or
phrases are synonyms when they have almost the same meaning. Terms with subtle differences
between meanings are called near-synonyms.
◦ Examples: H.W. Wilson indexes, Index to Philippine Periodicals (IPP), Computerized Index to
Philippine Periodical Articles (CIPPA).
• 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.
◦ Advantages: 1) Useful for generic searches when retrieval is aiming for classes of documents.
Since the hierarchy is clearly presented, the user is alerted to the items closely related to the
concept. 2) Brings similar things together.
◦ Drawbacks: 1) Users find classified indexes difficult to use because of the mode by which these are
constructed. 2) A secondary file, an alphabetical file, is needed to help the user find the relevant
index terms.
◦ Examples: Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) index, Applied Science and Technology
Index, Engineering Index, and systematic displays of various thesauri.
• 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.
◦ Advantages: 1) Locates a partly or completely remembered passage. 2) Closely represents the
information and ideas that the author had in mind when creating the manuscript.
◦ Drawbacks: Searching is difficult since this type of index spreads similar entries over many
synonymous terms, ignores misspellings, and confuses any general-specific term relationships.
◦ Example: Cruden's Concordance to the Bible and other similar concordances to the Bible.
