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A new thesaurus standard for the web

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.18 Issue 4, May 2003

Information specialists who have grappled with the task of using thesauri or other controlled vocabularies for information retrieval on the Web, will be delighted to hear of the revision of the standard Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of Monolingual Thesauri, ANSI/NISO Z39.19 currently underway by NISO (the United States’ National Information Standards Organization). These guidelines, last revised in 1993, form an important basis for thesaurus construction and use in library and database environments, and the revision aims to make them more appropriate for use on the Web and with a wide range of online documents. read more

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An Overview of Patents Online

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – 20 (6) July/August 2005

Patents are an important source of scientific, technical and business information.  For anyone planning to apply for a patent, a search is crucial to identify the existence of ‘prior art’, which affects the patentability of an invention.  For researchers, patents can be important as they are often the only published information on specific topics, and can provide insight into research directions.  Patents are also used by marketing and competitive intelligence professionals, to find out about work being done by other companies. read more

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ANZSI Conference Report 2005

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – 20 (4) May 2005

The renamed Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (previously AusSI, the Australian Society of Indexers) recently held a two-day conference at the delightful Rydges Riverwalk hotel on the Yarra River, in Richmond, Melbourne.

The conference covered the usual wide range of topics, including indexing of sound, journals, books and databases, as well as thesaurus construction and a user’s approach to indexes.  However, for me, the most stimulating and productive parts of the conference were the various meetings, which, while specifically related to indexers, also addressed issues that many societies are now considering. read more

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ANZSI 2013 conference – references from EPUB talks

References on EPUB3 and ebook indexes

for papers presented at the ANZSI conference, Wellington, March 2013.

Author-it. 2012. ‘ePubs Publishing Extension’, http://www.author-it.com/index.php?page=epub

Baker, Mark. 2012. ‘Too big to browse; too small to search’, http://everypageispageone.com/2012/03/03/too-big-to-browse-too-small-to-search/

BNA Law School Education Series. ‘Using online indexes’, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2248375/Using%20BNA%20Indexes%20study.pdf

Book authoring software, http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Book%20authoring%20software read more

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ANZSI 2013 indexing conference in Wellington, New Zealand

Many of the papers from the ANZSI 2013 indexing conference in Wellington, New Zealand are now available at https://www.anzsi.org/site/2013Confpap.asp including:

EPUB3 Indexes Charter and the future of indexing – Glenda Browne

Glenda will be talking about the importance of the IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group for ebook indexing from the point of view of editors and publishers. The EPUB Indexes specification (currently in draft form) sets the scene for an invigorated ebook indexing environment. It will enable the creation of active, linked indexes with all the functionality of a print index and a lot more.  Glenda will discuss:

  • EPUB philosophy
  • IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group
  • Complementary nature of browse, search and index
  • EPUB coding – general approaches
  • Specific indexing issues: eg, page numbers and ranges; index groups; cross-references; filtering
  • Ways that editors can help indexers, eg, logical structure of texts; use of textual headings; consistency.

Paper

Indexing techniques and EPUB – Jan Wright and Glenda Browne

In this two-part session, Glenda and Jan will discuss software options and combinations used in today’s eContent indexing.  Jan will cover how page layout software, word processing, and our own indexing packages can be used to embed, link, or prepare indexes for a variety of outputs: PDF, ebook, print, etc. Glenda will cover tips and techniques for how to index differently for ebooks. When there are no pages, it is even more important to keep the reader and their route to the text in mind. read more

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Automatic Categorisation

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.18 Issues 1, 2 and 3, Jan-Apr 2003

1. Principles of Classification

Automatic categorisation is the new ‘killer app’ for information access on Web sites, intranets and portals. However, is it really the solution to information overload, or is it just another promised technological fix that doesn’t deliver? This three-part article examines the state of the art in automatic categorisation. This part examines research in classification theory and its relevance to automatic categorisation. The second looks at some of the principles and practices in automatic categorisation, while the third focuses on specific software products. read more

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Automatic Indexing

  • Database indexing
  • Retrieval and ranking tools
  • Document abstracting
  • Book indexing
  • Indexicon
  • Effect of automatic methods on professionals
  • References

Introduction

This paper will examine developments in automatic indexing and abstracting in which the computer creates the index and abstract, with little or no human intervention. The emphasis is on practical applications, rather than theoretical studies. This paper does not cover computer-aided indexing, in which computers enhance the work of human indexers, or indexing of the Internet.

Research into automatic indexing and abstracting has been progressing since the late 1950’s. Early reports claimed success, but practical applications have been limited. Computer indexing and abstracting are now being used commercially, with prospects for further use in the future. The history of automatic indexing and abstracting is well covered by Lancaster (1991). read more