Author Description

If Information Storage And Retrieval Is The Essence Of Librarianship, The Docu¬Mentation Is Its Advanced Form Which Encompasses Three Activities : Biblio¬Graphic Organization, Indexing And Abs¬Tracting.In This Work, The Author Traces The History Of Indexing And Abstracting From The Antiquity To The Present Time, And Discusses The Nature And Control Of Information And The Various Functions Of The Information Centres. An Exhaustive Study Is Made Of Indexing Language And Thesaurus Construction. Nature And Types Of Indexes And Diversified Index¬Ing Methods And Procedures Are Criti¬Cally Examined. The Author Then Concentrates On Pre And Post-Co¬Ordinate Indexing Systems, Giving An Integrated View Of Manual And Compute¬Rized Operations. Word Indexes Such As Kwic And Kwoc, Concordances, And String Indexes Like Precis Are Discussed In Detail.The Study Next Turns To More Impor¬Tant Genre Of Indexing Such As The Index¬Ing Of Books, Newspapers And Periodi¬Cals. A Separate Chapter Is Devoted To The Exposition Of Computer-Aided Index¬Ing Methods And Procedures, Including Online Information Retrieval Indexes Operated At National And International Levels.Finally The Author Describes The Nature And Kinds Of Abstracts And Dis¬Cusses Manual And Computerized Methods Of Abstracting Practices Today.