Indexing terms in the LISA database on CD-ROM

摘要

This paper summarizes the findings of a recent study on the indexing practices used in the Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) database. The indexing terms (DE), the date each record was added to the file (DA), the Accession Number (AN), and the Classification Code (CC) of each record were extracted from the complete CD-ROM database. Adjustments to standardize the DE terms were made, and the adjusted data set was analyzed for average number of headings per record per DA year, the rank frequency and rank size distribution of DE classes, and the frequency distribution of the number of DEs per record per DA. The results show that a large number of headings are used once or twice over the whole database. The years in which DE terms first appeared was analyzed. A comparison of the use of a particular Classification Code with the DE terms in each record was also undertaken. There was a strong but not total match between the CCs and DEs used. Some attention is given to the chain indexing procedure used by LISA to account for the pattern of DE usage. The concluding section looks at scope for further research on LISA and other databases.