IMD312 - Topic 9 - Index and Abstract

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Topic 9
INDEXING AND
ABSTRACTING SERVICES
INDEXING & ABSTRACTING
SERVICES
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A list details of journal articles, books, reports and

other materials, often in a specific subject area.
In the case of electronic format, the full text article is
attached to the record via article linker
Abstracting service provide short summaries of work
such as journal articles, books or dissertations.
Many databases provide indexing and abstracting at
the same time
INDEXES AND ABSTRACTS
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USES & CHARACTERISTICS

 Index and abstract reveal resources not covered in the
general catalog, in addition to listing additional
resources not held in the given library’s collection.
 With the availability of online catalogs and indexes
and abstracts in electronic form, more efforts are
being made to provide direct links between them.
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 Periodical indexes usually list the authors, titles or

subjects of publication without comment.
 Abstract present brief summary of content. Most
abstracts are descriptive but a few abstracting
services contain evaluative abstract, including the
abstractor’s critical comments in the summary.
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 Abstracts serve as an aid in assessing the content of

the document and its potential relevance.
 The advent of the Web made it possible for libraries
to subscribe to indexing and abstracting databases
that the user could view over the Web.
TYPES OF INDEX
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 In a book
Points out the page(s) on which the
information can be found
◌Library catalog
An index to the materials in a library
TYPES OF INDEX
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Periodical indexes
Helps researcher in finding information on
periodicals.
Usually list the authors, titles or subjects of
publication without comments
Point out the location of the topics discussed in the
periodicals.
Can be in print, CD-ROM, online database or on
microform.
Newspaper indexes
Helps researcher in finding information in newspapers.
Point out the location of the article.
May be in print, CD-ROM, online or on microform.
TYPES OF INDEX
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Indexes to literature in collections

 Literature means any collection of extracts from the
writing of various authors.
 On one subject or one kind
 Collection of poems, short stories, essays,
speeches or quotations.
 Cover only in book form.
 Provide item author, subject, title and location
reference (compiler and title of the anthology,
pages(s) on which the essay, poem, story or play
can be found
INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING SERVICES:
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SUBJECT
Business Periodicals Index:

Produced by The H.W. Wilson Company, is a
bibliographic
B database that cites articles of at least one
column in length from
English-language periodicals published in the United
States and elsewhere.
Periodical coverage includes the leading business
magazines and a broad array of trade and research
journals.
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SUBJECT
ABI/FORM (ABSTRACTED BUSINESS

INFORMATION)
Contains accurate, reliable and timely citations,
abstracts and full-text articles from thousand of
business magazines and journals that help business
researches track business conditions, trends,
management technology, corporate strategies, and
industry-specific topics worldwide
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SUBJECT
Dissertations Medicine & Science

1. Dissertations Abstracts 1. Applied Science &
International Technology Index
2. Comprehensive Dissertation 2. Biological & Agricultural
Index Index
3. Index Medicine
Literature  MEDLINE – online & CDROM
1. MLA International 4. Biological Abstracts
Bibliography of Books and  BIOSIS Preview – online
Articles on the Modern 5. Chemical Abstracts
Language & Literature
SUBJECT
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Law Political Science

1. LEXISNEXIS 1. PAIS (Public Affairs
Legal Resource Index Information Service)
• Current Law Index – print
Psychology
• LegalTrac – CDROM 1. Psychological Abstracts
(electronic version of CLI
PsycINFO - online
2. Legal Resource Index (LRI)
provides subject, author, case name,
and statute name access to more than
700 journals from the major nations
of the common-law tradition
3. Current Law Index (print)
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SUBJECT
Library and information science

1. Library & Information Science Source
2. Library, Information Sc. & technology Abstract with
Full-Text
indexes more than 560 core journals, nearly 50 priority journals, and
nearly 125 selective journals; plus books, research reports and
proceedings. This database also contains full text for more than 330
journals and nearly 30 full-text monographs including Handbook of
Electronic & Digital Acquisitions, Library/Vendor Relationships,
Journals of the Century, etc.
5. Library Literature and Information Science
Retrospective: 1905-1983 (H.W. Wilson)
6. Library and information science abstracts (LISA)
EVALUATION
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 FORMAT - compare alternative formats electronic vs. print

or vice versa
E.g.: electronic forms usually have more powerful search
capabilities, with more access points and the possibility of
refining searches by using Boolean logic to combine terms ;
many databases do not cover the literature before the mid-
1960s, searches for indexes and abstracts for older literature
must rely on the print versions for the period of interest
EVALUATION
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 SCOPE – time covered does not necessarily coincide

with the period of publication because the publisher may
go back and index some older material valuable to the
user of the index
 FREQUENCY of publication and cummulations
frequency of publication also affects currency - i.e. a
monthly publication is likely to be more current than a
quarterly one.
EVALUATION
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 Frequency of accumulation affect the ease with which the

retrospective searching can be done.
 If a print index is semimonthly but cumulates only annually, the
many other issues must be searched until the annual
commutation is issued.
 An advantage of searching indexes and abstracts online is that
the contents are automatically cumulated.
17 EVALUATION
 TYPES of materials covered – indexes and abstracts
differ in the number of publication covered and the
depth or specificity of the indexing.
 General periodical indexes tend to index all
substantive articles from the periodicals selected for
indexing whereas subject
 Specific indexes and abstracts are more likely to index
selectively from a much larger list of periodicals.
EVALUATION
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AUTHORITY – reputation of the publisher or sponsoring

organization and the qualification of the editorial staff
Publisher of indexes include commercial firms,
professional associations and government agencies.
e.g. The H. W. Wilson company is one of the longest-
established commercial firms and has a well-deserved
reputation for the quality of its indexes
EVALUATION
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ACCURACY – quality and accuracy affect the usefulness of

indexes
- Also apply to both author and subject indexing. Author
names should be spelled in the index as they are spelled
in the work
- Accuracy of subject indexing depends on the indexer’s
ability to represent the content of a publication using
terminology drawn from the controlled vocabulary to
be used in the index.
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EVALUATION
ARRANGEMENT – arrangement of entries in print indexes

and abstracts determine one possible approach to the items
indexed.
Abstract may also appear in classified arrangement that make
it easier to browse entries fro related material.
Additional index offer other access points to the publications
indexed.
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EVALUATION
ACCESS POINTS in print sources are generally limited to

subjects, author and title. Electronic indexes and abstracts
offer many additional options for searching such as
keywords from the title and abstracts, journal title and author
affiliation.
EVALUATION
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SPECIAL FEATURES – take note any special features that

enhance their usefulness (e.g. list of periodical or other
sources indexed and a published list of subject headings
- take note approaches to ease the task of locating the full text
of documents covered by their services
23 EVALUATION
 COST
 UNIQUENESS – relates to both coverage and the

arrangement of the indexes and abstracts being considered
for selection
 FULL-TEXT COVERAGE
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1

A list details of journal articles, books, reports and

USES & CHARACTERISTICS

 Periodical indexes usually list the authors, titles or

 Abstracts serve as an aid in assessing the content of

Indexes to literature in collections

Business Periodicals Index:

ABI/FORM (ABSTRACTED BUSINESS

Dissertations Medicine & Science

Law Political Science

Library and information science

 FORMAT - compare alternative formats electronic vs. print

 SCOPE – time covered does not necessarily coincide

 Frequency of accumulation affect the ease with which the

AUTHORITY – reputation of the publisher or sponsoring

ACCURACY – quality and accuracy affect the usefulness of

ARRANGEMENT – arrangement of entries in print indexes

ACCESS POINTS in print sources are generally limited to

SPECIAL FEATURES – take note any special features that

 UNIQUENESS – relates to both coverage and the

That’s all for

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