An index system of terms with related and associated words

Richard J. Potocko

American Documentation, 1968, vol. 19, issue 2, 146-150

Abstract: An Index System of Terms with Related and Associated Words is described with a general discussion of the mechanical and the intellectual aspects of indexing. The details of grammar, syntax, and rhetoric are only mentioned. Index systems from the traditionally ordered Dewey Decimal System to the more recent Uniterm system have been evaluated. Both have positive qualities that contribute to a system of four Look‐up aids: a table of contents, a glossary, a vocabulary, and an index. A survey and word count of a variety of technical literature resulted in a consistently smooth statistical distribution of word combinations. Hence, a simple, numeric code system is recommended to prefix word combinations; and a second numeric code system is recommended to cross‐reference the indexed word combinations. These numeric code systems are one extension to the presently operational permuted term index systems. This system can increase the recall and relevance ratios of retrospective searches by systematically displaying to the information specialist those unique words of the total vocabulary and also the actual, not all of the possible, word combinations that exist in the texts of the document library. The continuation of this system is a system of truth tables and the use of the Socratic Method to program and control the order of events during the interrogation of the information file that has been derived from the document store.

Date: 1968
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