Relational Indexing

The reading, over the years, of many books and articles about subject indexing has not left me with any impression of well-defined principles, or even clear guidance for the indexing of complex material. I am concerned here with the detailed subject indexing of difficult and varied writings such as are found in a good scientific periodical or, more particuarly, in an abstracts journal in some scientific field. Such indexes require to be very specific and accurate, and as complete in reference to detail as one can achieve, finances permitting. You have only to consider the great value to science of such indexes as that provided for Chemical Abstracts to appreciate the importance of this matter. Nevertheless, I have never seen any exposition of any scheme providing a complete logical approach to such indexing; advice in choice of heading and avoidance of synonyms, suggestions on grouping headings and subheadings, and so on, are available in plenty, but they provide no reliable order of work. For some time, therefore, I have been driven to the conclusion that a very different approach is needed. This paper represents the results of such efforts as I have been able to make towards a theory of indexing; I have used these methods in practice for some time, in the indexing of an abstracts journal, and I think I may claim that, after some experience, they are rapid and reliable; the results are used not only in the form of the usual printed alphabetically ordered subject index, but also in the coded card index form, as I shall explain. Let us consider more exactly the nature and structure of an index. A list of single-word headings presents no complexities beyond those of synonyms and accurate representations of the matter on the different pages of the volume. Any subheading, however, represents a decision of emphasis and a selection of one concept in subordination to another. If this emphasis is only the result of the whim of the indexer, there is little likelihood of consistency. I suggest that the selection of subheadings should be the same as the selection of subordinate terms in any form of classification. The selection of sub-subheadings represents a further breakdown stage of classification. A subject index is, however, traditionally an alphabetically arranged list of terms and subheadings, etc. This may be regarded as an arrested stage of a classification, with alphabetical rearrangement. You are …