Letters to the Editor
Cataloging Article Concerns
Sir:
I am writing in response to your recently published article
by Fred Kilgour (March, 1995). There are a number of issues
I’d like to address in response, for I am struck by the arbitrary
and artificial aspects of his article and by, his proposal to, at
some point. eliminate descriptive catalogmg (at least as it is
currently being done).
Mr. Kilgour asserts that a single screen response is a desir-
able result of an OPAC search, yet offers no supporting evi-
dence of this desirability. Cataloging aims have long been, in
some form. those as stated by Charles Cutter:
To enable a person to find a book of which either the:
-Author or
-Title or
-Subject
is known. and
To show what the library has:
-By a certain author or
-On a certain subject
Nothing here indicates smallness of results as an aim. Why are
twenty results the most suitable? Only because small cathode
ray tubes for the display of such results are commonplace?
Next, Mr. Kilgour employs a research strategy of a hypo-
thetical user to demonstrate a means to achieve this single
screen result. He is not studying any user’s actual habits. He is
studying the way someone could search, if one wanted. There
is no indication that most (or even many) patrons operate in
this manner. This is a highly artificial, hypothetical user’s
search: and yet from this he asserts that one could then elimi-
nate descriptive cataloging. Even ifthe majority of searchesare
ones for a known item. he does not demonstrate that someone
performing a known item search has both the title and the au-
thor clearly identified.’ You might know that Salman Rushdie
has a death sentence on his head for having written something;
that does not mean you also know the title of the work that
prompted that death sentence.
His proposal to eliminate descriptive cataloging in no way
addresses the needs of users who do not have citations as a
means of pursuing their interests. It ignores the needs of pa-
trons who have no sp&fic research pursuit, as well. And, it
ignores the difficulties in transcribing a title from more prob-
lematic publications (exhibition catalogs. conference proceed-
ings, electronic texts, corporate publications, government pub-
lications, artists’ books, photograph collections, etc.). Mr. Kil-
’ Ignoring for the moment the difficulty in clearly identifying either
portion in many, many. publications. This point is illustrated more a
bit later.
(* 1995 John Wiley &Sons, Inc.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION
gour has chosen a very arbitrary subset of the information
universe on which to base such a recommendation.
Lastly. he ignores the issue of heading formulation when
dispensing with descriptive cataloging. His proposed OPAC de-
sign (whose functionality exists in some form in most OPACs)
relies on surname. Thus, standardizing the form that a surname
(or any heading) takes is vitally important. One part (a major
part) of descriptive cataloging involves the procedures used to
formulate a heading and create a cross reference structure if
needed. Indeed, chapters 22-26 ofAnglo-American Cataloging
Rules, >2nd.ed., 1988 revision are devoted to this type of work.
To propose a redesign of the OPAC to be effective and effi-
cient and then in the next breath to speak of eliminating de-
scriptive cataloging is contradictory and invalid.
Daniel CannCasciato
Catalog Librarian
Central M’ashington b’niversit~~
400 East 8th .4venue
Ellcnshwg, R’A 98926-7548
E-mail: dcc@muedzl
References
Kilgour. F. G. ( 1995). Effectiveness ofsurname-title-words searches by
scholars, Journal of ihe ~4mcrican Socicl~~ /ix Infivwulion Scicvw.
46, 146-151.
On the Dynamic Behavior of Bradford’s Law
Sir:
In the recent article entitled “Dynamic behavior of Bradford’s
law” Chen, Chong, and Tong. proceeding from the Simon gen-
erating mechanism (Simon, 1955), derived several interesting
conclusions regarding the distribution curve and the factors in-
fluencing its shape. Mostly, these results could be summarized
as follows:
(i) First, the shape of the distribution curve depends on the
concentration/dispersion relation, expressedby means of two
parameters, (Y and y, incorporated in the Simon generating
mechanism. Varying the values of these parameters. Chen et
al. revealed that m the case of higher data concentration, the
distribution curve (given in semilog plot) tends to the north-
west or vice versa, the higher the dispersion of data, the more
the curve moves to the southeast direction. That the shape of
the distribution curve depends on the mutual relation between
the two opposite effects, i.e., concentration versus dispersion
of data, is shown up by Oluic-Vukovic ( 199 1). Following the
artificially induced changes in the internal structure of data. it
was observed that depending on whether dispersion or concen-
SCIENCE. 46(10):798-800, 1995 CCC 0002-8231/95/ 100798-03
tration is the most striking data feature, the distribution curve
would vary from the J-shaped to the S-shapedform, or in terms
ofChen et al., the graph curves from the southeast to the north-
west direction. The connection between the shape of the distri-
bution and concentration of data has also been investigated by
Burrell ( 1985, 1992). The attempt of Chen et al., to formalize
this relation by introducing the 01and y parameters is, however,
a significant qualitative shift.
(ii) Second, considering the evolution of the distribution
curve in time, the authors deduced that “Since it is more likely
to have a d~~~rcJasing,filnction a(n) and an increasing filnction
-y(n). n = 1,2, . R, the Bradford graphs will curve more
toward the northM.e.stregion as time R increases” (italics
added). This is exactly what has been found by Burrell ( 199 1)
and Olui&Vukovifi ( 1992), in the study of dynamic behavior
of the Bradford distribution, though the first indications of this
date back to O’Neill (1973, 1974) and Braga (1978). To be
more specific, by studying the development of the distribution
curve over an extended time interval (Olui&Vukovi& 1992).
it was found that:
l by the increase of time, the concentration of data in
the higher producing tail of distribution increases at a
more or less constant rate (postulating the cumulative
advantage or “success breeds success”as the underly-
ing principle), while dispersion of data slowly de-
creuses. Consequently.
l the shape of the distribution curve changes in time,
evolving from an almost concavely increasing curve to
the S-shaped pattern, or in terms of Chen et al., it
moves from the southeast to the northwest direction.
These observations support, to a reasonable degree, rather
isolated opinions that Bradford’s and related distributions are
dynamic systems evolving in time. At the same time, they pro-
vided valuable information about the process underlying the
observed behavior, giving further confidence to Kendall’s at-
tempt ( 1960), from which I have proceeded, to consider the
Bradford distribution as a particular caseof a more general dis-
tribution proposed by Simon. However. the consequences of
the Simon generating mechanism and their correspondence to
empirical facts, especially in the casewhere both 01and y vary,
require further verification.
In view of these facts, it seems that the two articles discussed
above (Olui&Vukovi&, 1991, 1992), are much more related to
the recent work of Chen et al., than the cited article “Distribu-
tion of scientific productivity: Ambiguities in the assignment of
author rank” (PravdiE & Olui&Vukovi& 1991). only tenta-
tively concerned with this topic.
Vesna OluibVukovit? (SIF/IAE)
ProRes Ltd.
Novu cestu 28
4 1000 Zagreb
Croatia
E-mail: vesnu.ol~~ic.vukovic.@public.srce. hr
References
Braga. G. M. ( 1978). Some aspects of Bradford’s distribution. Procecd-
it1g.s o/‘lllcASlSAnnlrul /kfccrin~, 15, 5 l-54.
Burrell, Q. (1985). The 80/20 rule: Library lore or statistical law?
Jorwnul o~/~Doc~rrmc,n/ulion, 41. 24-39.
Burrell, Q. ( 199 I ). The dynamic nature of bibliometric processes: A
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN
case study. Third Iniernationul Conj&nce on I~firmetrics, Banga-
lore, India: Indian Statistical Institute.
Burrell, Q. ( 1992). The Gini index and the Leimkuhler curve for bibli-
ometricprocesses.
Itzftirmation Pruce.~singundMunag~ment, 28, I9-
33.
Chen, Y. S.. Chong, P. P., & Tong, M. Y. ( 1995). On the dynamic
behavior of Bradford’s law. Journal @‘the American Society,fbr In-
Jiwnution Scicncc. 46, 370-383.
Kendall, M. G. ( 1960). The bibliography of operational research. Up-
crationul Research Quarlerly, II, 3 l-36.
Oh&-Vukovib, V. ( 199 I ). The shape of distribution curve: An indica-
tion of changes in the journal productivity distribution pattern.
Journal oflqfimnution Science, 17, 28 I-290.
Olui&Vukovi& V. ( 1992). Journal productivity distribution: Quanti-
tative study of dynamic behavior. Journal of the American Society
./ix I&xmurion Science. 43, 4 12-42 I.
O’Neill. E. T. ( 1973). Limitations of the Bradford distributions. Pro-
ceedings of‘rhe ASISAnnuul Meeting. IO, I77- 178.
O’Neill. E. T. ( 1974). A stochastic scattering model. Proceedings ofthe
ASISAnnuul,~4eeting. II, 155-l 59.
Pravdik, N.. & Olui&Vukovib, V. ( I99 I ). Distribution of scientific pro-
ductivity: Ambiguities in the assignment of author rank. Scientome-
tricx, 20, 13 1- 144.
Simon, H. A. ( 1955 ). On a class of skew distribution functions. Biome-
triku, 42, 425-440.
On the Dynamic Behavior of Bradford’s Law-
Response
Sir:
I want to thank Dr. Olui&Vukovii for his valuable comment
on the recent article by Chen et al. ( 1995). The comment sum-
marizes related works by him and others on the dynamic be-
havior of Bradford’s law. Specifically, he shows that his two
recent articles (Olui&VukoviE, 199 1, 1992) are much more re-
lated to the work of Chen et al. ( 1995) than the cited article
(Pravidii & Oh&Vukovii, 199 I). In preparing the response
to Dr. Olui&Vukovi?s specific comment, I went over the early
draft of the paper and found the following statement: “Will cur-
rent publication patterns remain unchanged over time? The
question has gained much attention in recent literature, e.g.,
OIui&Vukovit ( 1989, 1991, & 1992).” I am sorry to say that
the statement and the corresponding paragraph were deleted
later as was suggestedby one of the referees.
In his comment, Dr. Oluii--Vukovii also made two very in-
teresting and important points regarding the Simon generating
mechanism (Simon, 1955) and I take this opportunity to dis-
cuss them below:
( 1) “The attempt of Chen et al. to formalize this
(concentration/dispersion) relation by introducing the 01and
y parameters is, however, a significant qualitative shift”
[parentheses added] _ Besides providing a quantitative frame-
work for analyzing Bradford’s and related laws (Chen et al.,
1994), Simon’s generating mechanism also enables us to apply
the theory of bibliometric modeling to interesting areas such as
database management, information retrieval, and speech rec-
ognition. For examples, in his dissertation, Tong ( 1994) ap-
plies Simon’s generating mechanism to model databaseaccess-
ing frequencies and proposes a self-adaptive buffer replacement
scheme that outperforms conventional databasebuffer replace-
ment algorithms; Chen et al. ( 1992) use Simon’s mechanism
to model natural language text generation and propose a self-
adaptive statistical language model for speech recognition.
SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE-December 1995 799
 (2) “However, the consequences of the Simon generating
mechanism and their correspondence to empirical facts, espe-
cially in the casewhere both (Yand y vary, require further veri-
ficatton.” This is indeed true and opens up some research op-
portunities. For example. the author and his colleague are in-
terested in applications where 01and y are interdependent, e.g.,
(Yis influenced by y; when y increases (decreases), 01will de-
crease( increase).
References
Chen.Y. S..Chong.P. P.. 8i Kim. J. S. ( 1991). Self-adaptive statistical
language model for speech recognition. C)?xwtctic~u. 35. 103-I 27.
Chen, Y. S.. Chong. P. P., & Tong, M. Y. ( 1994). The Simon-Yule
approach to bibliomctric modcling. I~t/i,rmarion Processin~~& nlorr-
u~f3’rnm?/.46. 370-383.
Chen, Y. S.. Chong. P. P.. & Tong. M. Y. ( 1995). On the dynamic
behavjior of Bradford’s law. Jnr(mu/ ol’flw :l~rw~i(~u~rS’oc~ic~~J~
frw In-
,/orrnu/ion S?icvcc,. 46. 370-383.
Oluic-Vukovic, V. ( 1989). Bibliometric modeling processes and the
empirical v*alidity of Lotka’s Law. Jo~/w(~/ of t/w .,lrnc,vican Soc’ic,/j’
,/itr In/iwtntr/ion Scicncr. 40. 379-385,
Oluic-Vukovic, V. ( 199 I ). The shape ofdistribution cuwe: An indica-
tion of changes in the journal productivity distribution pattcm.
Jorrrt~ul ol In/iuwwliot~ S~~irncc. 17, 28 I-290.
Oluic-Vukovii-, V. ( 1992 ). Journal productivity distribution: Quanti-
tative study of dynamic behavior. Journul o/‘//w .ilmu+un Soc~ict,~~
jiw /t~/orrnulioF? .~l~icwc. 43, 4 12-42 I
Pravidic. hi.. & Oluic-Vukovic, V. ( 1991 ). Distribution of scientific
productivity: Ambiguities in the assignment of author rank. S~irn(o-
rncvrk.s. -70. 13 I - 144.
800 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION
Simon, H. A. ( 1955). On a class ofskew distribution functions. Biomc~-
1rik1, 42.425-440.
Tong. M. Y. ( 1994). A .sel/du~~/ivc~ dutahusc~ hu/fm’ r~[h’etnmi
~~IIPIIIC. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Louisiana State Univer-
sity, Baton Rouge.
Kudos for Delphi Study
Sir:
While JASZS servesthe profession by printing a variety of ma-
terial. its primary purpose is still to publish results of original
research. Unfortunately, practitioners sometimes are not aware
of the immediate value that research can have for them in the
“practical” world.
The article bv Delia Neumann in the May 1995 issue is a
case in point. This article reported the results of a Delphi study
of library media specialists on interface design for high school
students’accessto databases.The article was of such immediate
practical value to a client of mine who is working on precisely
this issue that 1 referred them to it that very day.
In a rapidly evolving field such as ours. practitioners need
to keep up with research in order to be aware of likely future
developments-but sometimes the research is directly, imme-
diately applicable to our work. Keep it up, JASIS!
Jessica L. Milstead
The JELEM C’ompun)l
P.0. Box 5063
Brookfiekd CT 06804
E-mufl: 76440.2356~~otnpu.srrve.cotn
Reference
Neumann, D. ( 1995). High school students’ use ofdatabases: Results
ofa national Delphi study. Jorrrnul o/ rlw.-lv7rric~~~n Socrct!:/iw Inliw
mulion Sc~icnw. 46. 2X4-298.
SCIENCE-December 1995