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Subject access in online catalogs: A design model

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  • Marcia J. Bates

Abstract

A model based on strikingly different philosophical assumptions from those currently popular is proposed for the design of online subject catalog access. Three design principles are presented and discussed: uncertainty (subject indexing is indeterminate and probabilistic beyond a certain point), variety (by Ashby's law of requisite variety, variety of searcher query must equal variety of document indexing), and complexity (the search process, particularly during the entry and orientation phases, is subtler and more complex, on several grounds, than current models assume). Design features presented are an access phase, including entry and orientation, a hunting phase, and a selection phase. An end‐user thesaurus and a front‐end system mind are presented as examples of online catalog system components to improve searcher success during entry and orientation. The proposed model is “wrapped around” existing Library of Congress subject‐heading indexing in such a way as to enhance access greatly without requiring reindexing. It is argued that both for cost reasons and in principle this is a superior approach to other design philosophies. © 1986 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcia J. Bates, 1986. "Subject access in online catalogs: A design model," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 37(6), pages 357-376, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:37:y:1986:i:6:p:357-376
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(198611)37:63.0.CO;2-H
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    Cited by:

    1. Saeedeh Ahmadi & Saeed Khanagha & Luca Berchicci & Justin J. P. Jansen, 2017. "Are Managers Motivated to Explore in the Face of a New Technological Change? The Role of Regulatory Focus, Fit, and Complexity of Decision‐Making," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 209-237, March.
    2. Stephann Makri, 2020. "Information informing design: Information Science research with implications for the design of digital information environments," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(11), pages 1402-1412, November.
    3. Andreas Vlachidis & Douglas Tudhope, 2016. "A knowledge‐based approach to Information Extraction for semantic interoperability in the archaeology domain," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 67(5), pages 1138-1152, May.
    4. Isto Huvila & Heidi Enwald & Kristina Eriksson‐Backa & Ying‐Hsang Liu & Noora Hirvonen, 2022. "Information behavior and practices research informing information systems design," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(7), pages 1043-1057, July.
    5. Isto Huvila, 2022. "Making and taking information," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(4), pages 528-541, April.

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