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Abstract

The system is available both in print and online versions. Names a few new subject headings in areas like science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM). In this edition, there are a total of 1,600 new headings making it a total of 12,000+ preferred headings meant for subject access in small and medium sized libraries. This unprecedented increase of about 1,600 headings is mostly due the complete incorporation of the Canadian Sears last published independently in 2006. Also critically examines inconsistencies in a few headings. Concludes to say the new edition in resplendent, hard binding maintains its stellar reputation of a handy list of general subject headings both for applications and a teaching resource.

Date

21.12.2018 18:22:12

Footnote

Introduction und Rez. in: Knowledge Organization 45(2018) no.8, S.712-714. u.d.T. "Satija, M. P. 2018: "The 22nd edition (2018) of the Sears List of Subject Headings: A brief introduction." (DOI:10.5771/0943-7444-2018-8-712).

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Footnote

Rez. in: Knowledge organization 34(2007) no.1, S.58-60 (P. Buizza): "This Nuovo soggettario is the first sign of subject indexing renewal in Italy. Italian subject indexing has been based until now on Soggettario per i cataloghi delle biblioteche italiane (Firenze, 1956), a list of preferred terms and see references, with suitable hierarchical subdivisions and cross references, derived from the subject catalogue of the National Library in Florence (BNCF). New headings later used in Bibliografia nazionale italiana (BNI) were added without references, nor indeed with any real maintenance. Systematic instructions on how to combine the terms are lacking: the indexer using this instrument is obliged to infer the order of terms absent from the lists by consulting analogous entries. Italian libraries are suffering from the limits of this subject catalogue: vocabulary is inadequate, obsolete and inconsistent, the syndetic structure incomplete and inaccurate, and the syntax ill-defined, poorly explained and unable to reflect complex subjects. In the nineties, the Subject Indexing Research Group (Gruppo di ricerca sull'indicizzazione per soggetto, GRIS) of the AIB (Italian Library Association) developed the indexing theory and some principles of PRECIS and drew up guidelines based on consistent principles for vocabulary, semantic relationships and subject string construction, the latter according to role syntax (Guida 1997). In overhauling the Soggettario, the National Library in Florence aimed at a comprehensive indexing system. (A report on the method and evolution of the work has been published in Knowledge Organization (Lucarelli 2005), while the feasibility study is available in Italian (Per un nuovo Soggettario 2002). Any usable terms from the old Soggettario will be transferred to the new system, while taking into consideration international norms and interlinguistic compatibility, as well as applications outside the immediate library context. The terms will be accessible via a suitable OPAC operating on the most advanced software.
The guide Nuovo soggettario was presented on February 8' 2007 at a one-day seminar in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, in front of some 500 spellbound people. The Nuovo soggettario comes in two parts: the guide in book-form and an accompanying CD-ROM, by way of which a prototype of the thesaurus may be accessed on the Internet. In the former, rules are stated; the latter contains a pdf version of the guide and the first installment of the controlled vocabulary, which is to be further enriched and refined. Syntactic instructions (general application guidelines, as well as special annotations of particular terms) and the compiled subject strings file have yet to be added. The essentials of the new system are: 1) an analytic-synthetic approach, 2) use of terms (units of controlled vocabulary) and subject strings (which represent subjects by combining terms in linear order to form syntactic relationships), instead of main headings and subdivisions, 3) specificity of terms and strings, with a view to the co-extension of subject string and subject matter and 4) a clear distinction between semantic and syntactic relationships, with full control of them both. Basic features of the vocabulary include the uniformity and univocality of terms and thesaural management of a priori (semantic) relationships. Starting from its definition, each term can be categorially analyzed: four macro-categories are represented (agents, action, things, time), for which there are subcategories called facets (e.g., for actions: activities, disciplines, processes), which in turn have sub-facets. Morphological instructions conform to national and international standards, including BS 8723, ANSI/ NISO Z39.19 and the IFLA draft of Guidelines for multilingual thesauri, even for syntactic factorization. Different kinds of semantic relationships are represented thoroughly, and particular attention is paid to poly-hierarchies, which are used only in moderation: both top terms must actually be relevant. Node labels are used to specify the principle of division applied. Instance relationships are also used.
An entry is structured so as to present all the essential elements of the indexing system. For each term are given: category, facet, related terms, Dewey interdisciplinary class number and, if necessary; definition or scope notes. Sources used are referenced (an appendix in the book lists those used in the current work). Historical notes indicate whenever a change of term has occurred, thus smoothing the transition from the old lists. In chapter 5, the longest one, detailed instructions with practical examples show how to create entries and how to relate terms; upper relationships must always be complete, right up to the top term, whereas hierarchies of related terms not yet fully developed may remain unfinished. Subject string construction consists in a double operation: analysis and synthesis. The former is the analysis of logical functions performed by single concepts in the definition of the subject (e.g., transitive actions, object, agent, etc.) or in syntactic relationships (transitive relationships and belonging relationship), so that each term for those concepts is assigned its role (e.g., key concept, transitive element, agent, instrument, etc.) in the subject string, where the core is distinct from the complementary roles (e.g., place, time, form, etc.). Synthesis is based on a scheme of nuclear and complementary roles, and citation order follows agreed-upon principles of one-to-one relationships and logical dependence. There is no standard citation order based on facets, in a categorial logic, but a flexible one, although thorough. For example, it is possible for a time term (subdivision) to precede an action term, when the former is related to the latter as the object of action: "Arazzi - Sec. 16.-17. - Restauro" [Tapestry - 16th-17th century - Restoration] (p. 126). So, even with more complex subjects, it is possible to produce perfectly readable strings covering the whole of the subject matter without splitting it into two incomplete and complementary headings. To this end, some unusual connectives are adopted, giving the strings a more discursive style.
Thesaurus software is based on AgroVoc (http:// www.fao.org/aims/ag_intro.htm) provided by the FAO, but in modified form. Many searching options and contextualization within the full hierarchies are possible, so that the choice of morphology and syntax of terms and strings is made easier by the complete overview of semantic relationships. New controlled terms will be available soon, thanks to the work in progress - there are now 13,000 terms, of which 40 percent are non-preferred. In three months, free Internet access by CD-ROM will cease and a subscription will be needed. The digital version of old Soggettario and the corresponding unstructured lists of headings adopted in 1956-1985 are accessible together with the thesaurus, so that the whole vocabulary, old and new, will be at the fingertips of the indexer, who is forced to work with both tools during this transition period. In the future, it will be possible to integrate the thesaurus into library OPACs. The two parts form a very consistent and detailed resource. The guide is filled with examples; the accurate, clearly-expressed and consistent instructions are further enhanced by good use of fonts and type size, facilitating reading. The thesaurus is simple and quick to use, very rich, albeit only a prototype; see, for instance, a list of DDC numbers and related terms with their category and facet, and then entries, hierarchies and so on, and the capacity of the structure to show organized knowledge. The excellent outcome of a demanding experimentation, the intended guide welcomes in a new era of subject indexing in Italy and is highly recommended. The new method has been designed to be easily teachable to new and experimented indexers.
Now BNI is beginning to use the new language, pointing the way for the adoption of Nuovo soggettario in Italian libraries: a difficult challenge whose success is not assured. To name only one issue: including all fields of study requires particular care in treating terms with different specialized meanings; cooperation of other libraries and institutions is foreseen. At the same time, efforts are being made to assure the system's interoperability outside the library world. It is clear that a great commitment is required. "Too complex a system!" say the naysayers. "Only at the beginning," the proponents reply. The new system goes against the mainstream, compared with the imitation of the easy way offered by search engines - but we know that they must enrich their devices to improve quality, just repeating the work on semantic and syntactic relationships that leads formal expressions to the meanings they are intended to communicate - and also compared with research to create automated devices supporting human work, for the need to simplify cataloguing. Here AI is not involved, but automation is widely used to facilitate and to support the conscious work of indexers guided by rules as clear as possible. The advantage of Nuovo soggettario is its combination of a thesaurus (a much-appreciated tool used across the world) with the equally widespread technique of subject-string construction, which is to say: the rational and predictable combination of the terms used. The appearance of this original, unparalleled working model may well be a great occasion in the international development of indexing, as, on one hand, the Nuovo soggettario uses a recognized tool (the thesaurus) and, on the other, by permitting both pre-coordination and post-coordination, it attempts to overcome the fragmentation of increasingly complex and specialized subjects into isolated, single-term descriptors. This is a serious proposition that merits consideration from both theoretical and practical points of view - and outside Italy, too."

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Footnote

Rez. in: KO 38(2011) no.4, S.360-361 (M.P. Satija): "The 20th edition of the celebrated Sears List (1sted.1923) published in June 2010 sets a new cycle of three year revision. Earlier it was three and a half years to synchronize with the publication of the new edition of the Abridged Dewey revised after every seven years. In the days of constantly updated WebDewey, it is no more a constraint. For the first time Sears List has been released simultaneously in online database format accessible to licensed subscribers. Responding to the environmental changes the basic edition is the online one whose content is designed in MARC authority. Print edition is now a derivative of the MARC data. The editors keep tabs on the changing information seeking behavior of users and how OPACs are accessed; yet the editors or the publishers never discuss the mechanisms of designing a new edition. The new edition features more than 300 new subject headings suggested by librarians from different types of libraries, vendors of bibliographic records, indexers and subject specialists at the H.W. Wilson Company. Every new edition incorporates advances in vocabulary control, changing approaches of library users for subject access and even in the worldwide use of the English language. Each edition of the Sears List strengthens and continues the policies and consolidates the reforms that began with the 15th edition (1994). It is indeed an era of innovations in Sears. The latest knowledge from information science and information seeking behavior has been deployed to modernize the internal structure and grammar of the Sears List. Continuing adaptation constitutes the key to its success and popularity in the shifting sands of the information-seeking behavior of users. But the List is still a living manifestation of the principles of subject cataloguing put forth by C.A. Cutter (1837-1903).
. . . To summarize, as usual the List continues to provide complete guidance for the subject cataloguers for the maintenance of catalogues, for addition of new headings, and revision of the old ones. Its Introduction is clear and well illustrated, so much so that not only it is an illustrated operational manual to the Sears but also a concise textbook to teach principles and theory of the subject headings. Due to its affordable price and portability it is used to teach basics of subject headings in first year of Knowledge Organization courses. It also acts as an excellent and easy index to the DDC (Weihs 2004). The new edition should be welcome both for subject cataloguers and for teachers of subject cataloguing work."

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Footnote

Rez. in: KO 35(2008) no.1, S.55-58 (M.P. Satija): "The Sears List, first published in 1923, has survived times of destabilizing changes while keeping reasonable continuity with the past. Dr. Joseph Miller, at the helm since 1992 and the longest-serving editor in the eighty-four years of the List's existence, first edited the 15th edition of the Sears (1994). Over the years, the Sears has achieved more than it had hoped for: ever-increasing use the world over. In fact, the turbulent progress of media and information theories has forced the Sears to keep up with the changing times. Knowledge organization is a shifting sand in the electronic era. Vast and varied changes generate not only new information, but also new terms and phrases. It is trite to say that the electronic media have transformed the way in which we access information and knowledge. The new edition of the Sears has absorbed these changes to reflect the times. The 19th edition, released in May 2007, has about 440 new headings, to bring the new total to over 8000 headings, which keeps the growth rate at five percent. Newly-added headings generally fall into one of two categories: a) headings for the new and current subjects and b) headings previously missed. A few more have been modified. New editions are produced regularly to: - incorporate terms for new subjects, - restructure the form of old headings to suit the changing information needs and informationseeking behaviour of the users, - add new terms to old subject headings to reflect current usage, - delete the obsolete subjects, - forge new relations between subjects and their terms. Two major areas of new additions are in the fields of Islam, as might be expected, and the graphic novel- the latter has thirty headings perhaps drawn from the WilsonWeb Database on Graphic Novels Core Collection. ... The lapses are minor and could be forgiven; they in no way detract from this continuously-expanding and well-established tool for subject-cataloguing in small and medium libraries. The handy List and its lucid introduction make Sears an excellent and convenient tool for teaching subject headings' use and principles, as well as methods of vocabulary control. With its glossy and flowery cover, clear typeface and high production standards, the new edition is particularly welcome."