Imprecision in indexing. Part II

By freeing indexers from the necessity of using standard language, and placing them only under the constraint of choosing descriptors from a short authority list to which they may freely add modifiers, a lucid and understandable index can be produced. Used in conjunction with the listing program and the display described, this approach produces a remarkably efficient index to a series of a few thousand related compounds. The consistency of use of terms on the authority list, expressed as an increase in the chance of retrieval, is improved, but not brought to perfection. The meaning of a given term to the various indexers, judged by their lack of agreement in applying it to the abstracts, remains imprecise. The listing programs and display can also be used to produce an index in a broad subject area. However, the utility of the index to a broad subject area will depend to a greater extent on the application of indexing policies and on an authority list that is less a dictionary and more a thesaurus which reflects these policies.