ANATOMY OF A DOCUMENTATION SERVICE

H Bose
H CJain
Publications & Information Di r e cto r at e
New Delhi-12

Enumerates the technical processes involved in compiling papers for the encyclopaedia. till
the selection, evaluation, and indexing of incoming their f ina l drafts are complete. This forms
scientific literature for building up a pool of infor- the essence of SDI (Selective Dissemination of
mation oriented to the specific needs for compilation Information) service rendered by the Docu-
of an encyclopaedia on raw materials and industrial
mentation s e c tion here.
products of India, and their subsequent retrieval for
selective dissemination to the personnel concerned
with the project. SDI Service
The cataloguing of bibliographical re-
ferences of useful information pertaining to
Introduction
the encyclopaedia is a prelude to successive
technical operations leading to the compilation
The encyclopaedic compilation ·Wealth
of subject bibliographies.
of India-is a compilation on economic produc ts
of India, based on the -Dictionary of Economic
To many, the SDI service seems to be
Products of Indiaw by George Watt and
associated with the rapid processing of
published in 1889-93. It is intended to serve
information through electronicz: digital com-
as a reference guide to people with varied
puters; but whatever may be the means of
interests.
operation-· computerised processes or the
Consisting of two series, "Raw Ma te r ia Ls P manual methods - - the end purpose is the same
and -Industrial P'r o duc ts t", the former deals in both cases i ,e , , to supply selected informa-
with raw materials of vegetable, animal and tion to the client-- as if ·on a pl.att e r S-> at
mineral origin, while the latter is concerned regula r in te rvals .
with the present position and development of
industries - chemical and engineering indus- Depending upon the exigencies peculiar
tries, and industries based on indigenous to a particular project, the system or the
c rafts in India. operational process may not follow a beaten
track. The underlying principle of in f o r rn a v

A documentation service, oriented to tion storage and retrieval remaining the same,
the needs of information for compilation of the operational system may consist of technical
papers for this encyclopaedia, exists here processes not necessarily conforming to the
since 1947. It aims at maintaining a central conventional ones. Uniterm indexing system
reservoir of information consisting of litera- which forms the basis of manual and mecha-
ture files and catalogue of bibliographic re- nised means of information retrieval in a con-
ferences. This catalogue is compiled after ventional SDI service, has not been adopted
careful sc rutin y and indexing of relevant here due to needs peculiar to the project under
scientific literature contained in numerous dis c us s ion.
journals, reports, bulletins etc.
Indexing System
Its secondary function is to provide the
editorial staff with an up-to-date and compre- Primary and secondary periodicals,
hensive information in the form of subject patents, s tanda r ds , technical bulletins, re-
bibliographies about topics on which they are search reports, proceedings and conference

54 Ann Lib Sci Doc

 ANATOMY OF A DOCUMENTATION SERVICE

papers etc. are regularly scrutinized by 2. Manske R.H.F. Alkaloids of fumaria-

subject specialists and analytical entries are
made for useful information with appropriate
s ubjec t headings. Bibliographical entries for
articles are made under one or more subject
headings in conformity with the Hat provided.
Thus this process differs in principle from the
c omput er Is ed SDI service wherein the indexing
and retrieval of information is baaed on
keywords occurring in titles of articles.
When a title is not sufficiently meaningful or
does not contain adequate number of appro-
priate keywords. the retrieval will bring in
-noise- or irrelevant information. The
problem of -noise- is still more accentuated
in KWIC (Keyword in context) indexing wherein
the title is mechanically recirculated by
bringing each of the terms to the forefront
and eliminating those (mostly prepositions.
conjunctions etc.) which are not considered
meaningful. In such cas es the titles of
papers have to be editorially supplemented.
when necessary. with additional keywords to
provide multiple search terms for each paper.
Thus each key term. whether in the title
originally or added through editing. becomes
a search term lis ted in the alphabetical
arrangement.
ceous plants. LVII. Mi8cellaneous observa-
tion. Can ad J Chern 1969, 47: 1103-1105
The paper reports the isolation of a
number of new alkaloids for the following
plant species:-
Fumaria officina1is L.
Corydalis ochroleuca Koch.
Corydalis tubrosa De.
Corydalis pallida (Thunls.) Pers
Corydalis sibirica (L.) Pen.
Since the information is indexed on only.
Indian plants or exotic plant species natura1is-
ed in India, only two analytical entries were
made with the following terms as subject
headings:-
Fumaria officina1is Linn.
Corydalis s ibi r ica (L.) Pers.
3. Waller. G.R. &< Hans Burstroin. Diter-
penoid alkaloids as plant growth-inhibitors.
Nature. 1969. ~(5193): 576-78

In the present system. keywords for use
in subject headings are selected from titles
only when they help to identify the subject
dealt in the article. otherwise they are selec-
ted from abstracts. or the text, or supple-
mented by additional keywords. These key-
words are selected from an authority list of
subject headings or thesaurus which will be
discussed in the next paragraphs. A few
examples ma y clarify the point.
1. Mookherjec, P. B. J'o twani , M. G. Yadav,
T. D. and Si r ca r , P. Disinfestation of stored
seeds by heat treatment. Indian J Ent 1968,
2.2..(3): 197-202.
The text of the article contains the follow-
ing common names which concur with those
in the list of subject headings:-
Wheat, Maize. Jowar, Mung. Pea and Gram.
The article reports studies on the plant
growth inhibitory activity of t)vo diterpenoid
alkaloids isolated from the common larkspur
Delphinium ajacis, only one index entry is
prepared with the following subj ect heading:-
Delphinium ajacis Linn.
For animals and minerals. their common
names-- and not scientific names-- are listed
in the thes aurus be caus e the people in general
are more familiar with the former, e. g.
4. Venkataram, R. &< Chari, S. T. Food
value of the edible portion of the Indian Chank,
Xancus pyrum. Curr set, 1953, ll: ZZ-Z3
Index entry is made under the common
name 'Molluscs' a8 its eubject heading.

Since the raw materiala of vegetable origin are

5. Joseph. G. Ie Praaad, B.a. Epidemio-
entered under their corresponding botanical
logical study of filariae!e in the co.e tal belt of
names, six analytical entries are made under
Kerala state. Indiua J med Ree 1967, 55( 11):
the following subj ec t heading8:-
1959-72
Triticum, Zea mays, Sorghum vulgare,
Phaseolus aureua, Pi8um s atlvum , and In thia caee, 'paraaHic worma' la the
Cyampos is tetragonoloba subject heaaill1K.

Vol 17 No 1-2 Mar-June 5S

 lOSE & JAIN

The citation of bibliographic references well ask why Uniterm indexing has not been
in index entries follows the pattern of title followed here as it would have effected econo-
abbreviations as in the 'World List of Scientific my of material and labour. The answer is that
Periodicals' • the filing system of index entries, being
oriented to the needs peculiar to this project,
Role of Thesaurus is so different from the conventional one that
Uniterm Indexing cannot be adopted here.
In the foregoing passage, it has been
noted that subject headings are taken out of As the gradual development of scientific
an a pprov ed lis t. This lis t is, in fac t, a studies on a subject has to be traced from its
thesaurus containing a list of terms - botani- initial stages, catalogue ca rds bearing index
cal names for materials of vegetable origin, entries are arranged in a chronologico-
and common names of those of animal and alphabetical sequence. Th~s is different from
mineral original, all arranged alphabetically. a purely alphabetical arrangement which is a
While selecting terms or supplementing them, prerequisite to Uniterm Indexing system.
the indexer is guided by this list. This The index entries bearing botanical subject
thesaurus, which is kept up-to-date with matters are first arranged alphabetically
additions of new terms and elimination of under genus, and then under their respective
superseded ones, may be said to constitute the species. In case of an economically important
User Profile, while the array of index entries plant with a large number of bibliog raphical
forms the Subject Profile of the SOl service. references, the entries are further classified
according to its cultivation, disease, utilisa-
In case of raw materials, the thesaurus tion, statistics, trade etc., and then arranged
contains an alphabetic all array of botanical according to corresponding subheadings. An
names-- first under genus, and then under example is given below:-
species.
Tamarindus Linn. (Leguminosae)
A list of subject headings for industrial
products is also included in the thesaurus. T. Indic, Linn.

- General
Why not Uniterm Indexing - Botany
- Cultivation
As the articles selected for indexing deal
- Diseases and Pests
with a limited range of disciplines, a number
- Utilization
. of keywords will be common as subject head-
ings to many index entries, e. g , ,
- Timber
- Feeds and Fooder
(1) Karkal, M. & Na val ka r , B. S.
- Textiles
Studies in the phosphorus fractionation in some
- Medicinal
edible plant leaves, grown in Bombay and its
- Tannins, Dyes, Gurn s ,
subarbs. Pt. II . Trigonella corniculata Linn.
Resins, Pectin
J Univ Bombay (N.S.), 1961-62, 30B(Pt 3&5):
- Mis c el l an e ous
7-14 -

- Chemistry
(2) Atal, K. C. & Sood, S. P. Phyto-
chemical investigation on the seeds of Tri- The arrangement of index entries on
gonella corniculata Linn. Indian J Pha~ such plants follows the same pattern of layout
1964, 26(3): 81 of topics in the encyclopaedia. Their final
arrangement is according to their years of
(3) Ata l , C. K. & Sood, S. P. Phyto- publication followed by an intrins ic alphabe-
chemical inves tigations of T rigonella tical arrangement of genus, species and sub-
corniculata Linn. J Pharm Lond 1964, ~(9): headings. An extract from a s ubjec t biblio-
627-29. graphy is given below:-

The botanical term T rigonella corniculata Trigonella foenum - graceum Linn.

Linn. is common to several index entries here
and such cases are many. A critic may very Dis eas es and Pes ts

56 Ann Lib Sei Doc

 ANATOMY OF A DOCUMENTATION SERVICE

Rahman, K. A. 8< Sapra, A. N. On the In such cases, a correct name i. corre-

biology of the vegetable mite (Tetranychus lated to the superceded narn e through cross
cucurbitae Rahman and Sapra : Fam. Tetra- reference entries implying that inde. entries
mychidae). Indian J agric sei 1945, .!,2.: exist under all these terms and an enquirer
124-30 should preferably consult them also to have a
comprehensive idea about the topic, e. g.,
List of common names of Indian plant
diseases. Indian J agric Sc i 20{Pt 1):140-41, Sterculia Spp.
1950
Joshi, N. C. Second contribution to the See also Erthropsill
study of fungi from Ajmer. (Rajasthan). Agra Pterocymbium
Univ J Res (Sci), 1957, !(Pt 2): 15-17 Petrygota
Scaphium
Khan, S. A. Powedery mildews of
Tandojam. Pakist J Sci Res 1958, !.Q,(2): 82 Besides guiding an enquirer from erro-
neous and superseded names to correct names,
Gupta, K.G. 8< Sen, A. Variations in the cross reference entries help to correlate
characteristics of Rhizobium Spp. of gram synonyms including coordinate and subordinate
(Cicer arietinum), methi (Trigonella foenum- terms, e. g.,
graceum) and pea (Pisnm sativum). Indian J
Urochloa See also Brachiaria
agric Sci 1962, 32{Pt 4) 260 -65
Vernonia
----
See also Cent rathe rum
Joshi, H. C. 8< Mathus, Y. K. Notes on th Vitis S;;-a~ Caryatia, cissus,
the aphids of Rajasthan. Madras agric J 1967, Parthanocisus,
54(5): 239-43 Tetras tigma

Obviously Uniterm Indexing is not suited These cross references are also used to
to such an arrangement of index entries which inter-relate collateral terms, e. g.,
does not follow the conventional alphabetical
sequence, but is oriented to the needs of a Textile industry See also Cotton industry
particula r proj ect. Jute Industry
Silk Industry
A documental Is t with training in library Synthetic FibrE!!
cla es ifi.catl.on may be tempted to classify all Synthetic Fibre8
these index entries according to a ome c las ef - Wool Industry
fication scheme to form a classified file, and
then prepare an alphabetical subject index all a The nomenclature of plant. ill frequently
key to its contents. But any such attempt will rectified in conformity with the Rules of
disturb the existing pattern which is exclu8i- Botanical Nomenclature to eliminate discre-
vely geared to specific needll of a se.rvice for pancies. Botanical names in current usage are
compilation of thill encyclopaedia. Be s i de s , a referred from s upe r-s ed ed ones by Iseel
classified order will entail a two-way search reference entries!-
through alphabetical subj ec t to the clallllified
file instead of the present system of one-way Nothopanax See Polyscias
direct approach to the contents of the index Panax Spp. See Nothopanax
file. Polyscias
Tieghemopanax
Cross References Pristimera Reissantia

With progress of research, botanical

names of some plants have either been changed
or are likely to undergo alteration in future.
Index entries already made under lIuch
defunt botanical names as subject headings are
not discarded, but are coordinated to the
correct names through c ros s references.
SDI Service
Subject bibliographie. on any particular
topic are typed out from index entries per-
tainlJil to them and supplied to the editqrial
.taff when they commence writing article. on
it. Then useful articles on this topic are

Vol 17 No 1-2 Mar-June 57

 BOSE 8<JAIN
regularly sought out from incoming periodicals,
and analytical entries, prepared for them, are
kept separately. Supplementary bibliographies
are thereafter typed out from these subsidiary
entries, and supplied to the editorial s taf£ at
specified intervals till the final drafts of papers
are ready for the press.
These entries are, th er eaf te r , containing
the indexed information, are transferred to
the adjacent library where they can be consul-
ted with convenience.
Ancillary Service
An array of filing cabinets with systems
hold literature files-- all arranged in an
alphabetical order according to their subjects.
These files contain bibliographies, lists of
reference books, photocopies, pamphlets,
reprints, abstracts, clippings from news-
papers, standard specifications, drafts of
articles, and correspondence relating to them -
all arranged in a helpful sequence. In short,
they contain all us eful materials which can be
accomodated inside them, and thus they hold
out a vista of information within a limited
space.
These files are sent to the editors for
their consultation when they start compiling
papers for the encyclopaedia. All documents,
58
subsequently received, are also sent to them
for their perusal and incorporation in litera-
ture files lying with them.
To Conclude
As bibliographies, supplied through the
SDl service, contain only a list of citations,
it would not have been considered as an ade-
quate source of information but for the fact
that all scientific periodicals - after they have
been scrutinized by the technical personnel
here - are sent to the editorial staff who screen
screen them again to ensure if some useful
information has not been indexed. In such
an eventuality, they are again sent back to the
Documentation section with their remarks.
This ensures that no us eful information, even
of marginal value, is left out and nothing use-
ful is missed. View points of indexing and
editorial staff are thus made to concur ensur-
ing that the Inoisel or the number of redundant
entries are kept at a rni.nlrnurn
This s yst em, which has gradually
developed into its present form to reduce time
and labour of the editorial staff involved in
compilation of the encyclopaedia, has been
found to work well, and may indeed serve as
a guide to those who would like to undertake
similar projects.
Ann Lib Sci Doc