Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS

A 'Subject Indexing Language' (SIL) is an artificial language used for formulating names of subjects. Although classificationists have sought for universals in many fields of study such as, philosophy, biology, general systems theory, etc., the search for a deep structure of SILs formally...

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Main Author: Biswas, Subal C.
Published: Loughborough University 1988
Subjects:
020
Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.328347
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spelling ndltd-bl.uk-oai-ethos.bl.uk-3283472015-03-19T05:04:16ZEfficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSISBiswas, Subal C.1988A 'Subject Indexing Language' (SIL) is an artificial language used for formulating names of subjects. Although classificationists have sought for universals in many fields of study such as, philosophy, biology, general systems theory, etc., the search for a deep structure of SILs formally began with Ranganathan's idea of 'absolute syntax' and was brought to the present by G. Bhattacharyya and D. Austin. Whereas Bhattacharyya's deep structure of SIL is primarily based on classificatory principles (parallel to 'absolute syntax'), the deep structure proposed by Austin has a linguistic connotation. The present study describes and compares two such deep structurebased SILs, viz., PRECIS (PREserved Context Index System) and DSIS (Deep Structure Indexing System), a recent computerized version of POPSI (POstulate-based Permuted Subject Indexing), developed by F. J. Devadason at Documentation Research and Training Centre, Bangalore, India. Both also belong to the category of SILs typified as 'string indexing' languages. The study involves: i) writing of a suitable DSIS index entry generation program, ii) using both PRECIS (in-house) and DSIS programs to index a collection of representative sample documents from the soft sciences, iii) analyzing and comparing their respective syntactic and semantic aspects in terms of both linguistic and classificatory principles, and iv) applying some measures of efficiency and effectiveness. It was realized that certain modifications in the existing DSIS string manipulation algorithms are necessary to make the program fully operational. Although, no attempts have been made to quantify the measures of effectiveness and efficiency as such, suggestions have been provided as to what these probably would be. Some indications of their searching difficulties for a prospective searcher have been put forward as well.020Index language universals : Subject indexing languages : Deep Structure Indexing System : PRECIS : Classed vocabularies : Information languages : String indexing languages : POPSI : Controlled vocabularies : ClassaurusLoughborough Universityhttp://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.328347https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/7280Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
collection NDLTD
sources NDLTD
topic 020
Index language universals : Subject indexing languages : Deep Structure Indexing System : PRECIS : Classed vocabularies : Information languages : String indexing languages : POPSI : Controlled vocabularies : Classaurus
spellingShingle 020
Index language universals : Subject indexing languages : Deep Structure Indexing System : PRECIS : Classed vocabularies : Information languages : String indexing languages : POPSI : Controlled vocabularies : Classaurus
Biswas, Subal C.
Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS
description A 'Subject Indexing Language' (SIL) is an artificial language used for formulating names of subjects. Although classificationists have sought for universals in many fields of study such as, philosophy, biology, general systems theory, etc., the search for a deep structure of SILs formally began with Ranganathan's idea of 'absolute syntax' and was brought to the present by G. Bhattacharyya and D. Austin. Whereas Bhattacharyya's deep structure of SIL is primarily based on classificatory principles (parallel to 'absolute syntax'), the deep structure proposed by Austin has a linguistic connotation. The present study describes and compares two such deep structurebased SILs, viz., PRECIS (PREserved Context Index System) and DSIS (Deep Structure Indexing System), a recent computerized version of POPSI (POstulate-based Permuted Subject Indexing), developed by F. J. Devadason at Documentation Research and Training Centre, Bangalore, India. Both also belong to the category of SILs typified as 'string indexing' languages. The study involves: i) writing of a suitable DSIS index entry generation program, ii) using both PRECIS (in-house) and DSIS programs to index a collection of representative sample documents from the soft sciences, iii) analyzing and comparing their respective syntactic and semantic aspects in terms of both linguistic and classificatory principles, and iv) applying some measures of efficiency and effectiveness. It was realized that certain modifications in the existing DSIS string manipulation algorithms are necessary to make the program fully operational. Although, no attempts have been made to quantify the measures of effectiveness and efficiency as such, suggestions have been provided as to what these probably would be. Some indications of their searching difficulties for a prospective searcher have been put forward as well.
author Biswas, Subal C.
author_facet Biswas, Subal C.
author_sort Biswas, Subal C.
title Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS
title_short Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS
title_full Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS
title_fullStr Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS
title_full_unstemmed Efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : PRECIS vs. DSIS
title_sort efficiency and effectiveness of deep structure based subject indexing languages : precis vs. dsis
publisher Loughborough University
publishDate 1988
url http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.328347
work_keys_str_mv AT biswassubalc efficiencyandeffectivenessofdeepstructurebasedsubjectindexinglanguagesprecisvsdsis
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