The opportunity to revise this text represented an opportunity to reconceptualize the way in which we think about the structures for the organization of knowledge. The first and second editions of this text were written at a time when although the significance of electronic databases was increasing, many of the applications of such databases were in relation to bibliographic, directory or factual databases and databanks. Today much more information, and many more documents are delivered in electronic form, and the Internet has had a significant effect on information and document delivery. Some have seen this evolution in relation to technology as being defined by the unit that is processed:
Data - early computer systems managed data, in the form of structured records.
Information - the next generation of systems concerned themselves with information, or using one definition of information, useful data, and there was an increase in user focus and the interpretation and presentation of data.
Knowledge - the latest systems are concerned with knowledge, described in simple terms as information with structure and context.
It is important to remember that this gradual development of the application of information systems, in the direction of knowledge or knowledge-based systems, is only restricted to the application of computer systems and electronic databases. There have always been, and always will be, data, information and knowledge. Until recently, knowledge has resided in individuals’ memories and understandings, and in printed documents. Authors, editors, referees, reviewers, abstractors, indexers and searchers have always contributed to the structuring of knowledge. We explore these issues further in Chapter 1.
Similarly, there has long been recognition that knowledge, both in the form of documents and in relation to the contents of documents, needs to be structured or organized. Some of the most seminal thinking in this field was conducted around one hundred years ago. Such structuring is at the heart of processes associated with:
Understanding and cognition - we learn by comparing concepts with one another and understanding relationships between ideas. New concepts are integrated with reference to concepts that we already hold in our memory. Authors and others who create knowledge representations organize information at the micro level in order to help others to understand and learn.
Finding information or knowledge - as the quantity of knowledge has grown, so it has become increasingly important to develop tools for finding information and knowledge within a store or collection of information.
This book is primarily concerned with the tools that have been developed and used for finding knowledge, but in electronic environments these two processes are sometimes, but not always, intimately interlinked.
The transition to more databases and documents in electronic form has been accompanied by another significant trend, the increased use of networking to provide access to information resources and knowledge. This has been largely through the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), but networking within organizations through intranets and other networks has also been important. Ultimately this means that users have potential access to a wide range of information, but the challenge of location and selection of appropriate information becomes all the more significant. Tools such as search engines have been developed to assist users in this process. User experience of access to information is currently in a hybrid environment, which embraces both electronic and printed documents. These printed documents may be located in libraries or other collections, or may be acquired through bookshops and book suppliers. Organizations, also, still make use of print for reports, minutes of meetings and other applications.
The principles that underlie the structuring of knowledge in these various environments are common, although there are occasions on which the use of divergent terminology for the same concept but in different application areas may hinder transparency. This book seeks to identify and explain these principles, and the way in which they might be applied in different environments. The challenge facing the authors has been to strike an appropriate balance between extracting principles from their application in specific contexts in order that the reader can understand the key issues in the organization of knowledge, and giving a clear practical exposition which allows the reader to be able to apply principles in their different areas of application.
One factor that has not changed is the underlying choice in the organization of knowledge, in terms of where the responsibility for organization lies. Broadly there are three contributors to this process: creator, knowledge/information intermediary and user.
Creators, such as authors and publishers, have a responsibility to structure the documents which they create, but are generally not in a position to contribute to the organization of knowledge from a variety of different sources. Organization of knowledge must be managed by the users themselves, with or without the assistance of an information intermediary or knowledge agent. The information intermediary may create tools for the organization of knowledge. The fundamental dilemma that underlies many of the debates on the organization of knowledge is how many resources should be devoted to the creation of these tools in advance of, but in anticipation of, need and how much should be devoted to supporting the user at the point of need, or educating the user and designing user-friendly systems so that the user can navigate rather less structured knowledge mazes. This issue is revisited in a number of contexts later in the book.
The book is structured into four parts, and chapters are grouped into these parts. The first part, Information Basics’, comprises two chapters which explore the nature of information and knowledge, and the various different ways in which they can be incorporated into documents. An understanding of the nature of information and knowledge is essential in understanding why, when and how structure might be imposed upon knowledge. The variety of different types of documents, and some of the common components of such documents, such as abstracts, titles and contents pages, are important in understanding the nature of documents and some of their inherent structure.
Part II focuses on the different ways in which documents can be described. These descriptions are used as the basis for records in bibliographic databases. Both the contents of records and record formats are described.
Part III focuses on the range of tools that can be applied in order to achieve access to information resources and knowledge bases. An understanding of the different types of users, the processes of indexing and searching, and the constraints and opportunities presented by different types of human computer interfaces is important in setting the context There is a wide range of different types of indexing and searching languages, including alphabetical indexing languages and classification and systematic order. In addition, author names are important in catalogue and other databases; an introduction to the key rules in this area in the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules is given.
Part IV is concerned with the systems contexts through which knowledge can be organized and accessed. Although there are many similarities between the different systems contexts, it is important to explore the unique features of say, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), online search services, online public access catalogues (OPACs), and the Internet. And, finally, although the organization of knowledge is increasingly through a plethora of different computer-based tools, there remains a wide range of applications in which it is important to be able to organize printed documents, and to create and use printed indexes. These are briefly explored in Chapter 12.
Each chapter commences with an introduction which gives a clear view of the key issues covered within the chapter. Chapter coverage is revisited at the end of each chapter, in the chapter summary. Throughout the text key points are illustrated with the use of a range of different figures. Checklists are offered in places where a summary of features or factors can most effectively be summarized in such a form.
In common with the earlier editions of this book, this edition is written for undergraduate and postgraduate students of information management and library studies. It is intended to be an introductory textbook.
These students need to understand the searching process for two reasons. The first is that as information intermediaries and designers of information systems they themselves need to be exemplary searchers of information. Success in searching will not be achieved solely through the identification of an appropriate source, but also depends on skills in extracting the information from that source. The second reason is that they are likely to act as trainers in assisting others in effective information retrieval. Information retrieval, despite the plethora of information available to us, is not simple and requires considerable skill if the best information or document for the purpose is to be extracted.
It would be impossible to list all of those to whom the authors show some debt in the creation of this book. The ideas gathered here have been drawn from many authors, and represent a melding of the traditional contributors to the debates around cataloguing and classification, and the more recent enthusiasts who are members of the Internet generation. The authors would like to acknowledge all the publishers, authors and systems suppliers who have permitted them to make use of extracts from their works. These are individually acknowledged at the point at which they are included in this work. The honing of the ideas in this book has been undertaken with innumerable cohorts of students; their questions and difficulties in understanding have driven us to seek to think more clearly about the concepts in the area described as the Organization of Knowledge.