Constant Pioneers: The Citation Frontiers of Indexing Theory in the ISKO International Proceedings

Abstract

Presents a citation analysis of indexing research in the ISKO Proceedings. Understanding that there are different traditions of research into indexing, we look for evidence of this in the citing and cited authors. Three areas of cited and citing authors surface, after applying Price’s elitism analysis, each roughly corresponding to geographic distributions. Introduction and Background Reflecting on past research in indexing is beneficial for both the theory and the practice of indexing for a number of reasons. First, we want a greater understanding of the contours of indexing theory. Second, we want to know what has been said so we can think about it and then act with knowledge. Third, we want to be able to evaluate indexing theory, and finally we want to set the stage to develop theory further. The process of examining indexing theory this way is called metatheory (Ritzer, 1991). In order to reflect on past research on indexing, we gathered authors researching indexing and publishing in the ISKO context from 1990-Present, and extracted citations in these papers. We wanted to see what the landscape of indexing theory looks like over time through the literature cited. It is important that we better understand the literature of indexing because we can see that there are at least three traditions: (1) subject cataloguing, (2) indexing, (3) and analyse documentaire (Guimarães, 2008). These three traditions draw on separate literatures as well as national traditions. So it is important for indexing theory in the international ISKO context to study the landscape of the literature. Subject cataloguing had its origins in North America, specially from Cutter’s principles of alphabetical cataloguing, the tradition of LC subject headings and the thoughts of the School of Chicago, whose emphasis is mostly focused on the catalogue a product of information treatment in libraries. Such conception is defined by Fiuza (1985, p. 257) by “... representing, in library catalogues, the subjects contained in the collection”. We can count Cutter, Kaiser, and Coates as core thinkers in this tradition. Currently, authors such as Hope Olson and Sanford Berman, among others, have dedicated to the aspects of subject cataloguing. This approach has found in periodicals as Cataloguing and classification quarterly, a special vehicle, considering it being mainly related to questions of organization of bibliographical registers and the bibliographical control in general. The second approach Indexing – comes from a British tradition where indexes, while products of the information subject treatment, are pinned down from the usage of indexing languages – specially thesauri in specialized information centers or libraries, with a deep concern on the theoretical nature about the construction of such languages, is much influenced by the work of Classification Research Group. The contributions of Foskett, Austin, Farradane, Metcalfe, Aitchison, Gilchrist and Lancaster stand out. The journal The Indexer can be considered a special vehicle for spreading this conception, considering that it predominantly devoted to issues concerning history, organizations, systems, standards, methods, practices and technology indexing.