Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy Juan C. Buenrostro, Jr. Foreword by Richard J. Field Consultant, Education Services International London, U.K. Published for PLRC by Great Books Trading 27 Masikap St, Brgy. Pinvahan. Sikatung Village, Quezon City 2002Philippine Copyright 2002 © Juan C. Buenrostro, Jr. and Great Books Publishing. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction or in part in any form. ISBN - 971-8581-46-4 Lay-out design by Lydia Wenceslao Cover design by JB De la Pefia Published and exclusively distributed by Great Books Trading 27 Masikap St., Brgy. Pinyahan, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City Tel. No. 927-98-58; 926-47-08 Fax 435-5727 E-mail: virge@uplink.com.ph CIP recommended entry: Buenrostro, Juan C. Jr. Abstracting and indexing made easy/Juan C. Bueurostro, Jr. -- Quezon City: Great Books Publishing, 2002 1. Abstracting. 2. Indexing. DDC - 025.3 LC - 2695.9 B86 B84 Other Books by Juan C. Buenrostro, Jr. published by Great Books Publishing Batayang Aklat sa Librarianship ‘The Management of Special Libraries and Information Centers Collection Management tor Libraries and Information Centers The Complete Reviewer for Librarian's Licensure Examination Vol. 1 ‘The Complete Reviewer for Librarian's Licensure Examination Vol. 2 ‘The Complete Reviewer for Librarian's Licensure Examination Vol. 3 4viii OBJECTIVES OF THE BOOK As the title suggests. the overall objective of this guide is to assist you in preparing an abstract. Educational research has found that to be effective, self-learning module should contain the following: * a program of information to be learned, + learning objectives that relate the standard of performance expected from the learners, and * feedback exercises that allow the learner to self-evaluate their standard of performance. Thus. this guide includes these three elements in every lesson, For each lesson, there will be a program of information to be learned, i.e. subject matter. There will be objectives to introduce you to the subject matter. and self-evaluation feedback exercises allow you to measure what you have learned. It is advisable to read the objectives both before and after exposure to the program.INTRODUCTION Information analysis is a totally new method for the design and development of an information system 1.¢., a library, a documentation center or an information center. Its main purpose is to meet the information needs of the customers with high accuracy. rapidity. capacity and customer involvement. Unless knowledge in one's brain is encoded. stored in a document, collected by the library, processed and disseminated to many customers it remain knowledge. It only becomes informavion when this knowledge is stored in a medium which is a document, processed in the library through cataloging, bibliography, data base. abstracting and indexing periodical for easy retrieval and dissemination. Only then that knowledge becomes information. Thus. what the author as originator of message knows is knowledge and what we know as receiver of message from the author is information, When the author produces information through a document, he places meaning for the message. On the other hand, the customer reads the said document to tind out what he has said. Eventually, the role of information analysis is to discover the meanings for the message to find out if what has been said will interest the kinds of readers he wanted to reach. Information analysis is an attempt to infer the intentions of the author who is not present in the library. I focuses on the aspects of "“aboutness” of the document that can be used to retrieve it according to the customer's inquiry. Incidentally. some parts of the document are not always about what the entire document is about. nor the whole document iy the sum of the things it mentions. The intention of the author on the aspects of aboutness cannot be derived from the title alone or trom the text alone. Other parts of the document must be examined also such as the table of contents. preface, summary in each chapter, and the conclusion to be able to determine the aboutness of the documentThe abstractors or the indexers as information analysts are not seers. They would not know what the author will write and what the customer will inquire. What the document is about depends upon what its customer will use as upon what the author says. Judgement of aboutness contained in a document is based on the data presented in tt. The abstractors or the indexers are therefore dependent on the existence of the actual document when they perform information analysis. ‘The process of information analysis includes the examination of document, identification of indexable concepts, and translation of concepts into edexable language of the information system or the library. ‘The end products of information analysis are abstracts and indexes.TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Preface Dedication vii Objectives of the Book . . Vili Introduction MODULE ONE ABSTRACTING Lesson 1 Definition and Characteristics of Abstracts ............. 2 Lesson 2 Purposes and Uses of Abstracts 9 Lesson 3 Types of Abstracts ........ x 18 Lesson 4¢ Parts of an Abstract = Lesson 5° Bibliographic Reference Portion Lesson 6 Writing the body of the Abstract “ Lesson 7¢ The MARC Formats Applied to Abstracts ............... 60 MODULE TWO INDEXING Lesson 1 Indexing Languages .......0..00cc0c ce s 72 Lesson 2¢ Subject Indexing of Periodicals .. : Ba Lesson 3¢@ Pre-Coordinate Indexing System om Lesson 4e Post-Coordinate Indexing System wl Index 3 1dMODULE 1 ABSTRACTINGLESSON | DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ABSTRACTS What will you learn from this lesson? Well, after reading and analyzing this lesson you should be able to: * Define an abstract. * Know the various types of abstracts. * List down six forms of abstracts. * Differentiate the six forms of abstracts. ¢ Learn the three characteristics of abstracts. What is an ABSTRACT? ¢ An ABSTRACT is an abbreviated, accurate representation of the significant content of a document. * It is usually accompanied by an adequate bibliographic description to enable the original document to be traced. © This bibliographic description is usually found at the top of the abstract. Where can you compare an ABSTRACT? * An ABSTRACT can be compared to a JUICE of a certain fruit like an orange. It must be squeezed to extract the juice in it. * By drinking the juice, you would be able to determine that it comes from an orange even without seeing the actual fruit. So that after sipping the juice of a certain fruit you will be able to know it.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 3 + Similarly, after reading the abstract. it is assumed that the document is known to you even if it is not physically present. * So if you are the researcher, you can decide as to whether or not to read the original document, once you have read its abstract. Don't you think so? Have you heard the word SURROGATE? = Yes! It means substitute of the original. An ABSTRACT is also known as a SURROGATE or substitute of the original document. Since an abstract is a substitute of the original document, it is called a DOCUMENT SURROGATE. a What are the other types of document surrogates? ‘The other types of document surrogate are: abridgement, annotation, excempt, extract, summary, synopsis. terse literature, etc Do you want to know the meaning of each type or surrogate? Yes, why not? Annotation. This is a note added below the bibliographic reference or title of a document by way of comment or brief description of what the document is about, It usually appears in one or two sentenves only. Extract. This document surrogate is actually a portion of a document lifted from the results, conclusions or recommendations to represent the aboutness of the document. It is easy to produce an extract because, this is just a matter of lifling any portion of the document which is thought of giving the reader an idea of what the document is about. Summary - This type of surrogate is usually found at the end ot the document which is intended to complete the orientation of the reade! and to present some of the highlights for the reader to remember. ‘This is done by the author of the document to restate the important findings and conclusions of the document :4 MODULE 1! ¢ Definition and Characteristics of Abstracts Abridgement - This document surrogate is a reduction in terms of length of the original document that aims to present only the major points. Non-major points are omitted. Synopsis - This is similar to a summary. Example — Short resume at the back of a pocketbook. Terse Literature - This document surrogate is a condensation of the original. This is done by using statements which are highly abbreviated to encapsulate the major points. Example — Short articles found in the Reader's Digest. I am sure you are now aware of the meaning of each type of | document surrogate. Your teacher will ask you to submit an example for each type of document surrogate to enable you to get a first hand knowledge. You can find these surrogates in your library. Now that you have satisfied your curiosity about the meanings of abstracts, surrogates and other types of document surrogates, perhaps you have decided that the material is worth reading so why don't you go to the next section to find out more. Do you really want more? Abstracting a document is not a natural form of writing. It requires training and practice to enable you to write a satisfactory abstract. An abstract has definite characteristic and a unique style. So that you as a would be abstractor should know these three characteristics: accuracy, brevity, and clarity. Accuracy. An abstract is error free, meaning, efforts are exerted by the abstractor to prevent the occurrence of error in the presentation of the document surrogate to the reader. Since, errors are inherent in all human activity, someday, somehow you will commit them, so that their prevention needs to be planned. Little errors in bibliographic citation like the transposing of digits in the volume number of a journal will surely make it impossible to locate. For example, instead of volume no. 68, you encoded 78. Wow! Do you realize what I mean? Anyway, errors can be minimized if not totally avoided by checking‘ the draft of the abstract again while it is in manuscript form. Multiple checking can reduce the percentage of error to a minimum.Abstracting and Indexing Made kasy s Brevity. An abstract 1s brief, meaning shorter than the orginal document. This characteristic 1s the most important one. It makes 1 worthwhile to use it as a substitute of the original document: By making a long document shorter, the reader will not get bored trying to find out the real content of the document. Brevity can be achieved by removing redundancy in the language used in writing the abstract By minimizing redundancy, it saves space. and reading time of the customer. thus lowering the cost of producing the abstract. To attain brevity, some portions ot the document are eliminated in the abstract like: history and background. descriptions of commonly known techniques, common equipment, common premises, common processes, and common knowledge. Thus abstracts will only contain newly coined terms and phrases such as texting. xeroxing, etc.. new theories and hypotheses, and the never before published results and conclusions. To make it even more concise, already known abbreviations and symbols are used in abstracts to save space without sacrificing quick and easy understanding such as ATM. WWW. Internet, etc. When using abbreviations and symbols. abstractors are guided by internationally accepted standards to avoid misunderstandings between the abstractors and the customers. Clarity. Even if the abstract is accurate and brief, yet not clearly written in a style that is easily read, then it won't serve its purpose fully. Thus. it is not enough that abstract is brief and accurate. As much as possible, an abstract must be written in complete sentences, and must use the author's own words. Why’? Because if the abstractor used his own words in place of the author, it might change the meaning which the author wanted to convey to the reader. However, abstractors can paraphrase the author's work because by paraphrasing, the ideas encoded in the document are also interpreted to enhance the literary quality of the abstract Alright! You have just learned the ABC of abstracts. A Ws Jor accuracy, B is for Brevity, and C is for clarity. So easy to remember, isn't i? ABC Speuking of remembering, i's tume for a feedback exercise The question 1s, does this lesson cause an effect a you ds a learner? Well, only feedback can relate the effect of Ihe lesson Answer the questions on p. 6 and evaluate your learning6 MODULE I! « Definition and Characteristics of Abstracts LESSON ONE Definition and Characteristics of Abstracts FEEDBACK TEST DIRECTIONS: Write down the word or phrase that best describes each statement. 1. An abbreviated accurate representation of the significant content of the document. 2. Another term for substitute. s. A re-statement of the important findings and conclusio: found at the end of the document. 4. This document substitute is a reduction of the length of the document by omitting non-major points in it. 53. This document substitute encapsulates the major point of the document by. using abbreviated statements. 6. ______This document substitute is found at the back of the cover of a document which is similar to a summary. ZL This document substitute uses one or two sentences to describe the contents of the document briefly. 8. This characteristic of abstracts saves cost, time, and space. g. This characteristic of abstracts makes it error free. 10. ‘This characteristic of abstracts enhances its literary quality. Mastery CRITERION: 80%Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy Answers to Feedback Exercises Abstract Surrogate Summary Abridgement Terse Literature Synopsis Annotation Brevity Accuracy 10. Clarity CP RENAWewH Jf your score is 8 correct answers, then please accept my congratulations, Your rating is satisfactory. Higher than that is very satisfactory. A perfect score is excellent. You may proceed to Lesson Number lwo. However, if you answered three or more items incorrectly, go over the numbers you missed before undertaking a new activity. Alright! You may proceed to the next lesson.8 MODULE 1 « Definition and Characteristics of Abstracts LESSON ONE Definition and Characteristics of Abstracts References and Information of Interest Ashworth, W. (1975) “Abstracting” in Handbook of Special Librarianship and Information Work, 4" ed. London: ASLIB. Borko, H. & Bernier, C.L. (1975). Abstracting Concepts and Methods. New York: Academic Press. Collision, R.L. (1971). Abstracts and Abstracting Services. Santa Barbara, CA: ABS-CLIO. Cremmins, Edward T. (1982). The Art of Abstracting. Philadelphia: ISI Press. Lancaster, F.W. (1991). Indexing and Abstracting in aaa and Practice. London: The Library Association. Maizell, R. et al. (1971). Abstracting Scientific and Technical Literature. New York: Wiley. Rowley, Jennifer. (1988). Abstracting and Indexing, 2° ed. London: Clive Bingley.LESSON 2 PURPOSES AND USES OF ABSTRACTS This lesson presents the purposes and uses of abstracts. You will find this lesson extremely valuable in focusing on the philosophy of why you are learning how to write abstract, and why librarians and indexers find themselves engaged in preparing abstracts. To be prepared for these questions, you will need facts that will allow you to answer them and increase your credibility as an information professional. The information in this lesson will allow you to: 1. know the specific purposes and uses of abstracts; 2. learn how abstracts facilitate selection; 3. understand why we should save the time of the customer through abstracts; 4. list down the abstracting journals as tools for retrospective search; 5. know the other uses of abstracts; 6. define current awareness service; 7. realize the role of abstracts in the age of information explosion; 8. differentiate retrospective search from current search10 MODULE 1 « Purposes and Uses of Abstracts ORE —————————— By the number of objectives, you can see that there’s a wealth of information in this lesson. It has been condensed and packaged to give you an overview and insight but save time. [f you desire for additional information, you can refer to the literature cited at the end of this lesson. What are the purposes and uses of abstracts? There are many different purposes and uses of abstracts. Here are some of them, * Abstracts facilitate selection. In making decision as to whether a particular item must be consulted or not, the customer will be guided by the abstract on this issue. Why? Because abstracts are valuable indicators of the contents of the document. So. they easily prevent the customer from getting articles or documents that have no relevance to his needs. The customer cannot fully rely on the title because some titles are misleading, and some are sensationalized to catch the attention of the readers. In addition some titles are so short and‘tend to be general which most often than not are beyond real contents of the document. This makes abstracts more reliable than titles so that through abstracts the customer can decide which document to read. Thus, abstracts facilitate selection. ¢ Abstracts save the time of the reader. - Information explosion resulted in information superglut. This has been taking place for several centuries. If nothing is done to control the information superglut, information users and customers will surely drown in this flood of information. Consequentially, scientists, researchers, inventors, and other customers of information should benefit from what has been discovered, what is being discovered, or what is on the brink of discovery at the earliest time possible, so that an advanced form of encapsulation such as abstracts can be the best search medium that must be served to these people.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy MW Every year some fifty thousand or more books are published. Another fifty thousand or more periodicals are being issued each year. I has been predicted that this number could double in five years time. Do you know that in the Biomedical field, two million papers are published each year In the field of engineering, it's about 250,000 per year. But don't you worry, because the real aim of the scientists and researchers is not to master the contents of so many books and periodicals but only to keep up with the recent developments in their fields So, the most logical thing to do is for them to read abstracts instead of the whole document. Through abstracts they can save about nine tenths of their time to read the original document. This is the reason why abstracts save the time of the customer. * Abstracts facilitate literature search. When abstracts are compiled and published as periodicals, they are called abstracting journals. These are published commercially to serve as current awareness tools as well as retrospective search tools, As current awareness tools, abstracting journals contain abstracts of articles, technical reports, research and development reports published in 100,000 to 506,000 titles of serials in science and technology and around 100,000 to 300,000 thousand titles of serials in the social sciences. Examples of commercially available abstracting journals are: Chemical Abstracts, Physics Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, Metals Abstracts, Ergonomic Abstracts, Engineering Abstracts, Library and Information Science Abstracts, et So, if you were an engineer and you wanted to assemble and search all the mass of literature in the field of let say chemical engineering, then imagine yourself going through the shelves of periodicals, technical reports, and R & D reports in the said field and reading all of them: and compiling them by title and by subject. Yes | know how you teel, 1 1s impossible to do it in one hour, or two hours or even one day or one week. But with abstracts, you can do it in thirty minutes Going back to retospectve search, i.e. the information may be three months, six months, or one year late, the abstracuing journals can be considered as more successful as retrospective search tools. Why? Because the preparation and printing of abstracts is ime consunung. Nt12 MODULE I « Purposes and Uses of Abstracts is not easy to avoid time lag between the appearance of the original document and its announcement in the media. By reading the abstracts, the customer is given the opportunity to select the document that is most relevant to his or her information needs. The customer does not need to go to the shelves and go over the periodicals or reports and browse them one by one. All the customer needs to do is to get the latest issue of an abstracting journal in his/her field and read the abstracts. It is so easy and practical. Abstracts facilitate the customer's literature search. Now that you have learned the three major uses of abstracts, maybe you would want to know their uses too. Here they are! + Abstracts promote current awareness. The researchers, managers, scientists, and educators must keep pace with the current developments in their fields, or else they will be left behind. Incidentally, these professionals are so busy performing in their jobs and practically have little time to read the latest books, journals, and Teports in the library. Yet, they must keep abreast with the latest information regarding their subject. In the light of this need to be aware of the current developments, abstracts help them become aware because the average length of the abstract is about one-tenth of the original document. The customers will not spend so much time reading the journals, reports, documents, if they are given abstracts to read. © Abstracts overcome language barrier. Thousands of journals and technical reports are published in the language of the country where they originate. For example, Japanese science journals, Chinese medical journals, Italian chemical journals, or even Russian aeronautical journals. By international standards, abstracts are written only in the English language so that even if the documents are written in these languages, an English speaking manager, researcher, or scientist, would be able to know the contents of the documents in foreign language through abstracts. In this way abstracts overcome the language barrier.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 13 * Abstracts also aid in the compilation and provision of other tools such as indexes, bibliographies, and reviews. Subject indexing becomes easier when periodicals to be indexed contain abstracts. because through the abstracts the indexer will be given hints on the subject contents of the article. Compiling a subject bibliography is not a problem anymore because the abstracts reveal the subject matter of the document. An informative abstract can be considered as an objective review of a document. Congratulations! You have just completed lesson two Now: test yourself as to how much of the concep! you have understood and learned. See next page for progress check...MODULE I « Purposes and Uses of Abstracts LESSON TWO Purposes and Uses af Abstracts FEEDBACK TEST TRUE OR FALSE. Write the word True if the statement is correct and False if it is wrong. ti 3 10. ML. 12. 13, 14. 15. 1% 18. Abstracting journal is a periodical. Abstracting journal is an in-house publication. Abstracting journal is successful as a retrospective search tool. Abstracts are written in English, Spanish, French and Russian. Some journals require articles to be submitted to contain abstracts. Abstracts facilitate selection because titles are sometimes unreliable. Scientists and researchers need to be aware of the current developments. Information superglut is a result of information explosion and poses problems to the scientists, researchers, and educators. The average length of abstracts is 1/30 of the original document. Abstracts save nine-tenths of reading time of the researcher. The real aim of the researcher is to master the contents of the document. Abstracts promote current awareness, Abstracts aid in the selection of relevant documents. It is possible for an individual to assemble and search the mass of literature without abstracts. Abstracting journals are commercially available. The customers need to know different languages to read the abstracts. Abstracts are for busy people. The researcher could not fully rely on the document's title for its subject.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 18 19. The preparation and printing of abstracts 1s ume consuming that is why they are more successful as tools for current search. 20. It is more difficult to read abstracts then the original document. Mastery CRITERION: 80% The Answers are found in the next page, but please don't peek until @fier you've had a try.16 MODULE | ¢ Purposes and Uses of Abstracts Answers to Feedback Exercises 1, True vhs False 2. False 12. True 3. True 13. ‘Te 4. False 14. False 5. True 15. True 6. True 16. False 7 Tis 17. True 8. True 18, True 9. False 19. False 10. True 20. ‘False Mastery CRITERION: 80% If your score is 18 correct answers, then you deserve my warm congratulations. Your performance is quite satisfactory. Higher than 18 is of course very satisfactory. A perfect score, well, I cannot say anything else. You are a very good learner. You may proceed to Lesson Three. But, oh 1 am sorry, I did not mean to punish you if you got a score of 17 or lower. Why don’t you go over the items that you missed and find out why you answered it incorrectly. Ajright! You may now proceed to Lesson 3.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 17 References and Information of Interest Borko. H. & Bernier. C.L. (1975) Abstracting Concepts and Methods. New York: Academic Press Collison, R.L. (1988) Abstracts and Abstracting Services. Santa Barbara, Ca. ABS CLIO. Rowley, Jennifer. (1988) Abstracting and Indexing, 2" ed London: Clive Bingley.18 LESSON 3 TYPES OF ABSTRACTS This is just a review of what you have learned from the previous lesson. If you have just opened this module and can’t recall them maybe it is better to go back and learn them again by answering the following: « What are the three major purposes of abstracts? Write them down, 1. 2: x * What are the three uses of abstracts? Write them down. 1, a You may be surprised to know that there are true forms and none- true forms of abstracts. For all vou know, the abstracts that you have seen could belong to none true form. But what really differentiate a true form of abstracts to a none true form? | am sure you want to know it, yo this lesson will tell you more about this issue. One thing more! Do you know that aside from true and none-true forms, abstracts can also be classified into three categories? Do you also know that there are different types of abstracts?Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy np Alright! After studying this lesson, you should be able to distinguish the true forms and the none-true forms of abstracts. know what makes a true form of abstracts: differentiate an informative abstract trom an indicative _ abstracts; identify discipline-oriented, mission-oriented, and slanted abstracts; list the different types of true form of abstracts and none-true form of abstracts. Classification of Abstracts Since abstracts deal with a branch of knowledge, they can be generally classified into three categories. These are discipline-oriented abstracts, mission- oriented abstracts, and slanted abstracts. Below is the hierarchical nomenclature of abstracts to show the classification. Abstracts Discipline-Oriented Mission-Oriented Abstracts Slanted Abstracts yh Informative Indicative Informative Indicative Informative Indicative Figure 1. Classification of Abstracts20 Index What is a discipline-oriented abstract? A discipline-oriented abstract is one that is written for abstracting service dealing with a branch of knowledge. This abstract aims to serve the needs of a particular subject or discipline. Examples of disciplines/ and or subjects are: Physics. Chemistry. Biology, Medicine, Engineering, Education, Library Science. etc. Thus, many learned societies and commercial publishers are publishing abstracting journals for each discipline. For libraries found in chemical industries, the most appropriate abstracting journal that these libraries must subscribed is Chemical Abstracts. For libraries found in Physics research centers or Institutes of Physics in colleges and universities, the most appropriate discipline- oriented abstracting journal is the Physics Abstracts. For libraries found in the academe specifically in the natural sciences, the most appropriate discipline-oriented abstracting journal is the’ Biological Abstracts. What is a mission-oriented abstracts? If discipline oriented abstract is written for a specific branch of knowledge, a mission-oriented abstract is written for an abstracting service dealing with the applications of a branch of knowledge. It aims to serve the information needs of a particular industry or group of individuals. An example of a particular industry is railway. In this particular industry the information that are needed by the people working there can be the applications of mechanical engineering. industrial engineering, hydraulic engineering, and civil engineering in the railway industry. Since the mission of abstracting service is to provide information on the railway engineering, then articles that deal with railways which are found in the journals or periodicals in the above mentioned engineering fields are carefully selected, abstracted, compiled and published periodically as abstracting periodical to serve the information needs of this particular group of individuals. The best example is the Railway Engineering Abstracts. What is a slanted abstract? ‘ If discipline-oriented abstracts and mission-oriented abstracts are commercially published as abstracting journals by abstracting services, slanted abstracts are often published as in-house abstracting bulletins.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 21 Why, because this type of abstract is chiefly used for domestic needs of an organization. The audience of this abstracting service are the employees. scientists, researchers, and other knowledge workers within the organization. For instance a library or an information unit established to serve the personnel of a food-processing company will seek any reference to food processing whether periodical or technical report and abstract the document contents, compile them and published them through in-house method. Even if the document has a side issue or feature only a minor aspect on food processing, the abstracts that are written are slanted towards the concerns of the customers, i.c. information on food processing. For example: Food Processing Abstracts; Dried Fruits Abstracts, etc, What are true forms of abstracts? Collision (1971) and Lanscaster (1991) claimed that there are true forms and not true forms of abstracts. True forms of abstracts contain information which are planned, information which are objectively treated based on the real findings and informauon that was written in complete sentences. They are not evaluative, i.e. the abstractor does not express hisfher views on the quality of the work of the author. These are: + Information Abstracts * Indicative Abstracts * Informative-Indicative Abstracts Now, let us discuss the meaning and description of each type of true forms of abstracts. What are informative abstracts? Informative abstracts present qualitative and quanUtalive informauon contained in a document, The objectives are: (1) to help in assessing the relevance of a document to enable the customer to decide whether to consult or not to consult the document; (2) to serve as substitute for the original document especially if the knowledge contained in a document satisfies the information needs of the customer. In order to achieve these22 Index two objectives, informative abstracts are written longer than other abstracts. Usually. technical reports, conference papers, journal articles are abstracted to 100 to 250 words, For theses. dissertations, and technical reports, 500 words maybe appropriate. However. length should suit the document, that is. if the document is really long. the abstract should also be long. An informative abstract need not be of any specified length. Normally it can be one-tenth or one-twentieth of the original length of the document. To maintain the qualitative presentation of information, informative abstract is written by an abstractor who is a subject expert and well-trained in abstracting. See page 26 for a sample informative abstract. What are indicative abstracts? | Indicative abstracts only described briefly what will be found if you read the original document. This abstract does not contain much data and most often cannot be used in place of the original. It merely indicates the content of an article and contains general statements about it. It abounds in phrases such as is discussed, iy described, is enumerated, has beer investigated etc. yet does not record the outcome of the investig: 3 Because of this, indicative or descriptive abstracts tend to be shorter that the informative abstracts. Thirty to fifty words can make up an indicative abstract, thus it can be written quickly and economically by an abstractor who has less expertise on the subject. Indicative abstracts are more appropriate for review articles, books. conference proceedings, reports without conclusions, essays, and bibliographies. See page 26 for a sample indicative abstract. What are informative-indicative abstracts? ‘This is a combination of the two abstracts mentioned above, i.e. Parts of the abstracts are written in informative or indicative style. Major aspects of the document are written in informative way. while aspects which are of minor importance are written indicatively. This mixed style can utilize not too many words and not too little words just enough to be able to transmit information ertectively. See page 26 for sample. Can vou write diyscipline-oriented abstracts, mission-oriented abstracts, and slanted abstracts informatively [comprehensive],Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 23 indicatively [descriptive], or informatively-indicatively? Yes! Yes! Why not! Do you want to know the not true forms of abstracts now? Alright, you may proceed. What abstracts are not true forms? According to Lancaster (1991) and Collison (1971), critical, telegraphic, and modular abstracts are not true forms of abstracts for the following reasons * A critical abstract is really a condensed critical review that when applied to reports, journal articles, and other relatively brief items, serve much the same purpose as a critical book review * A critical abstract is subjective and evaluative, i.e. the abstractor expresses views on the quality of work of the author and contrasts it with the work of others. For example, it might mention the weaknesses of the methodology used, the way the population was sampled, the size of the sample may be too small, or compare the results with other research done by another author. + A telegraphic abstract is written in a telegram style and therefore imprecise. It is written in incomplete sentences and really resembles a telegram. It contains a string of keywords which serve as crude indicator of the subject scope of the document, This type of abstract is computer produced based on word counts, i.e. the higher the frequency of the appearance of the words through word counts the higher the possibility that these words will be part of a string. I1 is just a string of keywords without syntax * A modular abstract is rare because it is somewhat customised based on the request of the customer. In this particular abstract, the document is abstracted using the following methods: First. the citation will be given, second, the annotation will be given, third. the indicative abstract will be provided, fourth, the informative abstract will be presented, and fifth, the critical abstract. The primary purpose of this form of abstract24 Index is to give the customer the opportunity to grasped the content of the document by showing the four types of abstracts without attempting to force standardized abstracts. The philosophy behind this modular abstract is to show that an abstractor is a real expert in the subject as well as in abstract writing. Modular abstract seems very reliable, but very time consuming and very difficult to prepare. See page 28 for sample of a modular abstract. Because of these reasons critical abstracts, telegraphic abstracts, and modular abstracts are uncommon, and therefore considered as not true forms of abstracts. What are the other forms of document surrogates? We cannot deny the fact that abstracts are expensive. (e.g. Chemical Abstracts). It is very costly to prepare an abstract because it requires technical skills, writing skills. knowledge of the subject. and a long period of time to read the document to be abstracted. To solve these problems, Borko (1975), Lancaster (1991), and Rowley (1988) proposed newer and more compact torms of document surrogates. These are extracts, short abstract, statistical or tabular abstracts, author and homotopic abstracts. Below are definitions and descriptions of each type of other document surrogates to understand fully what these surrogates are. * Extracts are sentences, data, tables, equations, formulae, which are lifted verbatimly from the original document. The person preparing this type of document surrogate must possess the ability to recognize the sentences, data, tables, etc. that should be lifted verbatimly to be able to Tepresent or embody the aboutness of the document. * Short abstracts or mini-abstracts are similar to annotations because they comprise only one or two sentences which aim to describe briefly what the document is all about. * Statistical or tabular abstracts are most effective in conveying certain types of information found in documents that contain economic,Abstracting and Indexing Made Fasy 25 social and marketing data. Statistical data or tabular data on economics, social conditions. marketing trends are presented in their original format to present the summary of the contents of the document * Author abstracts are prepared by the author who is undeniably the best versed in his own specific subject. One of the tends in journal publishing is the appearance of abstract below the title of the article. This shows that the prospective authors are required to prepare abstract of his/ her work and to submit it together with the manuscript. In this case, the abstractor can use the author abstract as a model and modify it to fit to the information interests of the customers. * Homotopic abstracts are published at the same time as the original manuscript. Since the abstractor does not modify the abstract which accompanied the manuscript, the abstract stay as it is. Homotopic (equally important with the heading) abstracts accompany the manuscripts. so that the articles cannot be published without the abstracts. Since homotopic abstracts are prepared by authors. they are considered as author abstracts. a Summary Abstracts can be classified as discipline-oriented; mission-oriented; and slanted. All these three refer to abstracts in general. Specifically these three can be further classified into informative, indicative, and informative-indicative abstracts. These three abstracts are considered as true forms of abstracts. The not true form of abstracts are critical, telegraphic, and modular. Since abstracts are very costly to prepare and produce, other less expensive document surrogates can be done by libraries and information centers, and these are: extracts, short abstracts or mini- abstracts, statistical or tabular abstracts, homotopic and author abstracts. Its feedback time! Test yourself as to how much of the concept you have understood and learned. Answer the questions found on page 30.26 MODULE | ¢ Types of Abstracts Sample Abstracts Informative Abstract Buenrostro, Juan C. Jr. (Institute of Library Science, U.P. Diliman, Q.C.) “Preterences of Special Libraries and the Library Education Curriculum”. Journal of Philippine Librarianship, 16 (Mar. and Sept. 1994): 12-17. A survey was conducted among 43 librarians working in special libraries. The questionnaire contains items that aims to match the hiring preferences to the current curricular offerings of the library education program in the country. Library managers were asked to rank library science courses in the undergraduate and graduate levels. Topping the list of recommended courses are Cataloging and Classification, Reference, and Library Administration. The first eight courses which the respondents felt should comprised the core curriculum are: Library administration, first: Reterence and Information Services, second: Cataloging and Classification, third; Introduction to Information Sciences. fourth; Information Processing and Handling, fifth: Collection Development, sixth; Abstracting and Indexing, seventh; and Special Library, eighth. As to the suitability of the BLS degree. 88.37% said that BLS is suitable. As for the MLIS degree, 74.42% said yes. On the job training. attending seminar-workshops, and following Master's degree in LIS are the most preferred types of continu'ng education programs. Reasons for attending continuing education programs. are for updating (63.3%), promotion (22.95%), and required by the protession (14.75%). Economics motivate these librarians to work in special libraries. (10 tables and 18 refs.) MP. Descriptors: Special Libraries: Library Education; Library Science- Curriculum. Indicative Abstract 4 Buenrostro, Juan C. Jr. (Institute of Library Science, U.P. Diliman, Q.C.} “Preferences of Special Libraries and the Library Education Curriculum”. Journal of Philippine Librarianship, 16 (Mar. and Sept. 1994): 12-17. Questionnaire was used in a survey of selected special librarians to match the hiring preferences of the special library and the library educationAbstracting and Indexing Made kasy 27 curriculum. Library managers were asked to rank courses offered at the graduate and undergraduate programs. The respondents were also asked to list eight courses which they felt should comprise the core curriculum The respondents attitudes toward the suitability of the BIS and the MLIS degrees to the needs of the special libraries are discussed. The types of continuing education programs and the reason for attending such programs are also presented. (1() tables and 18 refs.) Jane Descriptors: Special Libraries: Library Education: Library Science- Curriculum. Informative-Indicative Abstract Buenrostro, Juan C. Jr. (Institute of Library Science, U.P. Diliman, Q.C.) “Preferences of Special Libraries and the Library Education Curriculum”. Journal of Phil. Librarianship. 16 (Mar. and Sept, 1994): 12-17. Forty-three librarians in special libraries were surveyed using questionnaire to match the hiring preferences of the special library to the curricular offerings of the library education program. When asked to rank library science courses being offered in the graduate and undergraduate programs, they chose Cataloging & Classification as first followed by Reference and Information Services, and Library Administration. was found that there was no significant difference between the bachelors degree and Master's degree in Library Science when it comes to their suitability to the needs of the special libraries, They also prefer on the job training, seminar-workshops. and attending Masters degree in Library Science as forms of continuing education programs. Economic motivation urges librarians to work in special libraries, (10 tables and 19 refs.) MILM Descriptors: Special Libraries; Library Education; Library Science- Curriculum28 MODULE | «¢ Types of Abstracts Example of Modular Abstract Cuevas, Romeo C. (CBA, Univ. of the East, Cal.) “Stock Price Movements of Selected Philippine Companies After Announcements of Issuance of Commercial Papers”. U.E. Research Bulletin. (1999): 13-32 Annotation Examines the effects on the stock price behavior of selected companies that have issued long term commercial papers (CP’s.) to see whether a public announcement of CP issuances affects stock prices in the same way as the bond does. Indicative Abstract Commercial papers (CPs) play the role of private bonds in the domestic financial system. Issuances of CPs on the firm’s stock behavior was investigated. Existence of correlation between stock price behavior and Credit Information Bureau Inc. (CIBI) rating was examined, Comparison between CBI and the stock behavior through the correlation analysis was made. Excess return was calculated. CIBI rating scales were assigned to facilitate the correlation analysis. Informative Abstract Ten selected companies which raised fund through the issuance of long- term commercial papers (CPs) between 1995-1997 were analyzed to see whether the sourcing funds affect stock returns. These companies are La Tondena Dist. Inc., San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp., Benpres Holding Corp., 1 Phil Holdings Corp., J.G. Summit Holdings Inc., PCI Leasing & Finance Corp., C&P Homes Inc., ABS-CBN, & Davao Union Cement. The issuance of CPs varies with the different firms. The movements of the stock price exhibited varying degree of difference trom stock market index without discernible pattern. Degrees of freedom are equal to nine (-1=9) since there are ten observations made. At 90% contidence interval, the cut-off t-statistics is 2.821. This means that there is a significant difference between the stock prices of Phisix for each trading day exists at t-statistics equal or is greater than 2.821. The t-statistics om the dayAbstracting and Indexing Made Easy 29 ——— itself is a little bit higher compared to those of the other days at 1.64258 ‘The calculated correlation coetticient at 0.16688 shows that CIBI ratings have negative/negligible influence in the market. Thus the issuance of Jong-term CPs does not affect market value of the issuing firms MODULE | « Types of Abstracts LESSON THREE Types of Abstracts FEEDBACK TEST DIRECTIONS: Write TF if the abstract is true form and NT if its not a true form. 1 Critical abstract. Extract Indicative abstract. Informative abstract. Informative-Indicative abstract. Mini-abstract Modular abstract. Statistical abstract Tabular abstract 10. Telegraphic abstract. 4 1 2. J 5: : 6. 7 8. 9. IDENTIFICATION. Write the word or phrase that best describes the following. | a Abstract written for an abstracting service dealing with a branch of knowledge. Abstract written for an abstracting serving dealing with the application of a branch of knowledge. Abstract that is done in-house to be used for domestic needs of the employees, researchers, and other knowledge workers in one particular organization. Abstract that presents qualitative and quantitative information contained in a document. Abstract that only describes what will be found in the - original document. This is a combination of two abstracts mentioned above. This abstract is a condensed critical review. ‘This abstract is written in telegram style and therefore imprecise. ‘This is a rare abstract that is customized based on the request of the customer. 10,_____ This is another term for a short abstract. won * ue wane Mastery CRITERION: 80%Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy a pene seer aw S LESSON THREE Answers Key to Feedback Exercise 43 445445504 Identification. 1 im 3 4 5. 6. 7 8. 9. 10. Discipline-oriented Mission-oriented Slanted Informative Indicative Informative-Indicative . Critical Telegraphic Modular Mini-abstract EVALUATION: A score of 24 correct answers is very satisfactory. You may proceed to Lesson 4. If you missed more than S items, go over the items that you missed before undertaking a new lesson32 MODULE | ¢ Types of Abstracts References and Information of Interest Borko. H. & Bernier, C.L. (1975) Abstracting Concepts and Methods. New York: Academic Press. Collison, R.L. (1971) Abstracty and Abstracting Services. Santa Barbara, CA: ABS- CLIO. Lancaster, F.W. (1991) Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and Practice. London: The Library Association. Rowley, Jennifer. (1988) Abstracting and Indexing., 2d ed. London: Clive Bingley.33 LESSON 4 PARTS OF AN ABSTRACT ‘What to learn in this lesson? After reading and analyzing this lesson, you should be able to: 1. know the three major parts of an abstract: 2. learn the significant parts of the reference portion; 3. identity the data that comprise the contents of the body of an abstract, 4. know what should be included and omitted in the body of the abstract; determine the language to be used in the abstract and its length; 6. describe the contents of the signature and descriptors portions of an abstract. = Just a brief introduction. Abstracts have three major parts: (1) the bibliographic reference portion (2) the abstract proper or the body (3) the signature. The descriptors portion is an optional part34 MODULE 1 e Parts of an Abstracts What is the bibliographic reference portion? The bibliographic reference portion directs the customers to the original document. All abstracts must be accompanied by an adequate bibliographic reference in any publication or other applications where they appear remote from the parent document. Since this portion directs the customers to the original document the data must be accurate, complete and adhere to some set of rules or standards. Incidentally, the precise contents of bibliographic reference and its format are dependent on the practice or standards being adopted by the abstracting unit of the library or information center. What are the significant parts of the reference portion of an abstract? The more significant parts of the reference portion of the alana are as follow: Document identification number Author (s) Author affiliation . Title of the document . Source of the document; volume and or issue number, date of publication, and specitic pages \ 6. Original language (other than English) j wrwnr 1. Document identification number. This number is an accession number that is sequentially assigned to a document as it arrived and processed. The number serves to identify the particular abstract within the abstracting periodical for easy retrieval. ' 2. Author (s). Prominence is given to the author’s name if it is placed before the title of the document. By putting the names of the authors first provides a means of selecting all works by the same author while scanning an issue of abstracts. The main disadvantage of putting the author’s name in the first position is if the customer's focus was on the title of the document and not on the author. The author's name receives more emphasis than the title, whereas if the title was placed inAbstracting and Indexing Made Easy 35 the first position, the customer can quickly reject the abstracts that are not of interest to him/her. Usually author's name is written in the inverted order, surname, first name, middle initial. Some abstracting services give all names when there are three authors. while other services write only the name of the first author and use the word [et al] as substitute for the names of the others. For example: Buenrostro. Juan C. Jr. 3, Author affiliation, The author's affiliation is given in parenthesis following the name. Where there are two or more authors working for ditferent organizations, their respective affiliations are written after each name. This portion helps the customer identify the place where the author is connected and where the document originated. It also helps the customer know where and how to contact the author for future consultation. For example: (Institute of Library Science, U.P. Diliman, Q.C.) 4. Title. The tile serves as the guide to the subject content of the document, Most customers rely on the title for the subject content of the document. For the purpose of accuracy, the actual title is normally lifted and written verbatimly in the bibliographic reference portion of the abstract. For titles of foreign language documents, these are cited in both the original language and the translated language. Scanning of the abstracts is usually facilitated if the translated title appears before the original tide (other than English), The original title is retained for identification of the original document. For example: “Librarianship and the New Professional in the 21" century” (Ang Librarianship al ang Bagong Propesyonal sa ika-21 Siglo) Example of English uve: “An Evaluation of Graduate Library Education Programs in Institutions of Higher Learning” 5. Source of the Document. This potion is very important because it enables the customer to locate the original document. ‘The source of the document is described in the bibliographic reference portion ts way:3% MODULE I « Parts of an Abstracts periodical/ journal title, volume and or issue number, date of issue, and Pagination. The periodical title often appears in an abbreviated form, for example: J for Journal, Soc. tor Society, Lib. for Library, and Lit. for Literature. As for standards which recommend periodical title abbreviations, ISO 4-1986 Documentation Rules for Abbreviation of Title Words and Titles of Publications presents an international code for the titles of periodicals. On the other hand, ISO 832-1975 contributes specifically by listing abbreviations of typical words in bibliographic references. After the journal/periodical title, the volume and or issue number, date of publication in parenthesis, and then the pagination. For example: Educ Qrtly. 37: 1 (Mar 1990): 74-90. J. of Phil. Librarianship. 15: 1&2 (Mar. & Sept. 1992.): 1-5. J. of Phil. Librarianship. 16 (1993): 19-30 6. Original Language. If the article for which the abstract is being prepared is in a language other than English, this should be stated after the source, e.g. (Text in Filipino). Samples of bibliographic reference portion Buenrostro, Juan C. Jr. (Inst. of Library Science, U.P. Diliman, Q.C.) “An Evaluation of Graduate Library Education Programs in Institutions of Higher Learning” J. of Phil. Librarianship. 16 (1993): 1980. Buenrostro, Juan C. Jr. (Inst. of Library Science, U.P. Diliman, Q.C.) “Librarianship and the New Professional in the 21* Century” (Ang Librarianship at ang Bagong Propesyonal sa ika-21 Siglo) J. of Phil Libnship. 1S: 1&2 (Mar. & Sept. 1992): 1-5. (Text in Filipino) What comprises the body of an abstract? The second part of an abstract is the body or abstract proper. It contains complete idea or the basic content of the original document. It is the portion where the customer is given a complete idea of the basic content of the original document to help him/her assess the feasibility of|Absrracting and Indexing Made Easv 37 going through it. It is a representation of the entirety of the contents of the document to serve as a guide to the customer in evaluating the applicability of the said document to his/her subject of interest To achieve the desired degree of brevity. many parts of the document are omitted, and these are . history . introduction . old information . Summaries . details of procedures waAWNe The abstract proper contains the following parts: 1. purpose 2. methodology 3. results and conclusion What is the language of the abstract? The English Language is used in writing the abstract. Simple pentences should be used for abstracts. It must be accurate, concise and ynambiguous. Complete sentences need not be used. Abbreviations commonly understood or easily intelligible in the content may be used 0 shorten it such as cm. tor centimeters, kg. for kilograms, km. for kilometers, etc. Trade jargons and colloguialism must be avoided, tor sxample, use television instead of boob tube, or use money instead of read. etc. Since brevity 1s the essence of abstraction, redundancy and verbosity must also be avoided. for instance, instead of wrung has been ‘ound to increase it can be replaced by the word wicreased or instead of wring the phrase “blue in color” it can be replaced by the ward blue, ete What is the length of the abstract proper? The length of the abstract depends upon the accessibility of the wiginal documents included in the abstracts. When abstracts are prepared or an internal library bulletin from materials owned by the library and38 MODULE I © Parts of an Abstracts the access to the original documents is quite easy, a short abstract is sufficient. For articles appearing in a journal which is difficult to obtain. a longer abstract is advisable. However, the arithmetical average of ar abstract is calculated to be about one tenth of the length of the original or approximately 150-200 words. Nevertheless, this arithmetical average should not be formally treated as a determinant of the abstracting practice when it comes to length. This is only a calculated. length to give the abstractor an idea of how long an abstract should be. A suggested normal length for an indicative abstract is 50 words, while for informative abstract is 150 words. In special cases an abstract may run to as many as 500 words. What is the signature section of the abstract? The third major part of abstracts is the signature which follows the body. The signature identifies the abstractor to give him/her credit, anc place responsibility upon him/her, and also to indicate authority. Signature may be full names or initials only. Full names are written as means of positively identifying the abstractor and also means ot rewarding him/her. For example: JCBUENROSTRO; JCB; BUENROSTRO; etc. What is the descriptors portion? Is this required or optional? The descriptors portion is optional. It may or may not be include: in the abstracts. This portion is done by putting a string of subje headings assigned by the abstractor to represent the subject matter of contents of the document. Descriptors are interchangeable with key subject headings or index terms. They provide the customer with a li of terms useful for filing the abstract in his/her personal retrieval syste and these terms can be used in a search for related documents. Thest terms also help the indexer in facilitating his/her work in informatio analysis.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 39 Summary Abstracts have three major parts: the bibliographic reference, the sbstract proper or the body, the signature and the optional part which is he descriptors. The bibliographic reference portion directs the customer the original document. The body or the abstract proper contains semaaet idea about the basic content of the original document. The ignature identities the abstractor. The descriptors portion is the string of lescriptors or key words assigned as subject headings to the original text : Its feedback time! Test yourself as to how much of the concepts in the lesson you have understood and learned. Answer the questions found on the next page.MODULE | e Parts of an Abstracts LESSON FOUR Parts of an Abstract FEEDBACK TEST DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blanks with the correct words or phrases. 10. Abstracts have major parts. The optional part of the abstracts is The part of the abstracts which directs the customer to the original document is The body of abstract is = called The number sequentially assigned to the document in abstracts is Usually the author's name is written inthe ss order. The portion which helps the customer identify the place where the author is connected is the | The part of the bibliographic reference which serves as guide to the subject content of the document is known as The body of the abstract contains purpose, methodology, results, a To achieve brevity, history, introductions, old information, summaries; and details of procedures are DIRECTIONS: Match column A with column B. Write only the letter of the correct answer. A B Arithmetically calculated length of A. Verbosity & abstracts. redundancy 2. The language of the abstracts. B. Source of documenty 3. Length of informative abstracts. C. Author 4. Length of indicative abstracts D. English S. Other term for descriptors. E. etal 6. Helps indexer in information analysis. F. MethodologyAbstracting and Indexing Made Easy 7. Substitute for the names of authors. 8. Serves to locate original document. 9. Gives credit to the abstractor. 10. To be avoided in writing abstracts. Mastery CRITERION: 80% G. One tenth of the original H. Descriptors list I. 50 words J. 150-200 words K. Signature L. Keywords 4142 LESSON FOUR ANSWERS KEY 1. three 2. descriptors list 3. bibliographic reference 4. abstract proper 5, document identification number 6. inverted 7. author affiliation 8. title 9. conclusion 10. omitted SO RPIAWEYN- >Rrommr-cgo S EVALUATION If your score is 20 correct answers, wow! Excellent! If your score iy 18, wow! Great it is still a satisfactory performance. Do you know that you are a fast learner? How old are you? Never mind. You may proceed to the next lesson. If your score iy below 18, | am advising you to go over the items that you missed and try to find out why you committed these errors. What are you waiting for? Do it now! After doing this, you may proceed to the next lesson. FOR REFERENCES AND INFORMATION OF INTEREST SEE NEXT PAGE...Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 43 References and Information of Interest Borko. H. & Bernier, C.L. (1975) Abstracting Concepts and Methods. New York: Academic Press. ‘Collison. R.L. (1971) Abstracts and Abstracting Services. Santa Barbara, CA: ABS- CLIO. ‘Cremmins, Edward T. (1982). The Art of Abstracting. Philadelphia: ISI Press. Lancaster. F.W. (1991) Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and Practice. London: The Library Association. . Rowley. Jennifer. (1988) Abstracting and Indexing., 2d ed. London: Clive Bingley.LESSON 5 BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES PORTION OF ABSTRACTS Can you enumerate the six elements of the bibliographic portion? - eS wpe Alright. after reading and analyzing this lesson, you should be able to: * know the different methods of the document citation based om the International Standard Bibliographic Description programme: (ISBD); Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed. Revised (AACR2R); and International Standard Organization (ISO) © write citation for books: for reports: for conference proceeding: and for other assorted materials.Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 45 What is the bibliographic reference portion of an abstract? The first part of the abstracts pertain to bibliographic references. This portion directs the customer to the original document that was abstracted. It contains a set of sufficient data thal were made precise and detailed to enable a document or part of a document be identified easily. The precise contents of the reference and its format are decisions to be made by the abstractor and the abstracting office of the organization. In the interest of consistency. and in order to introduce the possibility of matching the entries in different data bases, it is recommended that document citations be in consonance with internationally accepted standards such as those embodied in the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) programme, standard cataloging rules found in the cataloging codes of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition Revised (AACR2R); and those rules contained in the International Standard Organization, (ISO 690-1982 E). These standards are acceptable to some extent as the basis of citation practices in abstracting published documents, What are the guidelines for citing journal articles? The components of journal article citation are: 1, Document identification number (sequential number assigned to a document which may also be called accession number) 2. Author/s, and author's affiliation/s 3. Title of the article. One option though is that title may precede the author's name. 4. Source, i.e, title of the periodical or journal, volume number, date of publication, and pagination. . Sponsoring agency and its report number, . Original language of the article. 7, Any other additional descriptive notes, an46 MODULE 1 « Bibliographic References Portion of Absracts Examples are: 127 Lin, C-L; Ting, Y-Y. “Proceeding evaluation of chemotherapeutic agents by medicated bath on the red spot disease (vibrosis) of milkfish (chanos-chanos), (Taiwan Fish Research Inst.) Bulletin of Taiwan Fish Res. Inst. (1984): 113-127. (8 figs; 13 tables; Text in Chinese) - Abstract proper - (Source: Milkfish Abstracts) 53940 Locating optical fibre faults, A. Wiltshire (Cossor Electronics, Harlow, England). Commun. Int. (G.B.), vol. 12, no.1, p. 59-66 (Jan. 1985) - Abstract proper - (Source: Electrical and Electronics Abstracts) What are the guidelines for Book and Report citations? ~The primary distinction between the citation of journal articles and the citation of books and reports lies in the fact that the journal articles are microdocuments which are parts of complete documents i.e. books and reports. The components of book and report citations are: . Document identification number Author Title Source - Place, Publisher, date, pagination . Additional descriptive notes, i.e. no. of refs., bibliography wayneAbstracting and Indexing Made Easy 47 Examples are: EDT 00145 Sayson, Alicia M. Accreditation and Growth Changes of Colleges and Universities with PAASCU Accredited Programs in Regions XI and XII. Ed.D. University of the Philippines, 1986. 267p. Descriptors: Identifiers: - Abstract proper - (Source: Education Dissertation Abstracts) Videotext development in the United States. Michael B. Binder. In Advances In Library Administration and Organization, vol. 2; edited by G. McCabe and B. Kreissman. Greenwich, Connecticut and London, England, Jai Press, 1983, 39-68. 7 refs. Bibliog. Abstract proper - (Source: Library and Information Science Abstracts) What are the guidelines for conference proceedings citation? Conference Proceedings are important category of information materials which require special attention in relation to abstracting. To avoid confusion and inconsistencies, the ISBD and AACR2K are helpful tools in this process. The following items that comprised the bibliographic reference for this type of material need particular attention, 1. Title of the article/name of contributor 2. Title of the conference (possibly distinct from the litle of the proceedings) 3. Title of the series of conferences and the number of the conference within the series (if the conference is one of a series) 4. Location of the conference Date of the conference. 6. Names of the organizations which sponsored the conference, “a48 Index Examples are: 85/6254 Online information retrieval systems in Southern Africa: current Situation, problems and development trends, A.M. Dippenaar, D.W. Fokker, H. Bruin. In 8 International Online Information Meeting, London, 4-6 December 1984, 105-113, table, 2 refs. - Abstract proper (Source: Sea Bass Abstracts) 245 “Investigation for net-cage culture at Pakphanang river and other part of Nakrornsrithammarat Province.” In Report of the Third Meeting of Thai-Japanese Joint Committee for Songkhla Coastal Aquaculture Center Project, Songkhla, Thailand, 23 Nov. 1983. Songkhla National Institute of Coastal Aquaculture. 15p. 11 figs. + Abstract proper - (Source: Milkfish Abstracts) What are the guidelines for citing other assorted materials? Various types of documents may from time to time be cited in an abstracting or indexing publication. Formats such as microforms, patents, audiocassettes, video-cassettes, and computer tiles should be cited in a manner consistent with the more predominant forms or published documents, The AACR2R can be followed in the citation, and following the mechanics provided for in the ISBD. The components recognized by the ISBD programme as being appropriate for the precise identification of the document represent a recognized approach to a document citation. The programme has established standards for monographs (ISBD-M), for serials (ISBD-S); for maps (ISBD-CM); for music (ISBD-PM); and for non-book materials (ISBD-NBM). A general framework is prescribed in the ISBD-G, where G stands for General“Abstracting and Indexing Made Easy 49 The components of the ISBD-G are the following: Title and statement of responsibility area Edition or issue area Medium (or type of publication) specific areca Publication. distribution area Physica) description area Series area Notes area International standard number area Alright! Its feedback time. Next page please! SPrYAWewYNS50 MODULE 1 © Bibliographic References Portion of Absracts MODULE FIVE Bibliographic References Portion of Abstracts FEEDBACK TEST DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blanks. Complete the following statements by filling in the correct word or phrase in the blank. 1, 2 a = ee The first part of the abstract pertains to : It is advisable that the document citations are in line with internationally accepted ; ‘The bibliographic reference portion contains set of data which are sufficiently precise and detailed so that the publication can be easily The document identification number may also be called . number. | Journal articles are part of complete document so that they are also known as 1 Books and reports are complete documents so that they are also known as : The address of the office where the author is connected is called ‘The title of the periodical, volume number, and date is called In some abstracts, the ___ precedes the author in the heading; . This area refers to the person or organization as the author of the wok Mastery Crirerion: 80%ebsractise and Indexing Made Easy 51 Answers to Feedback Exercise 1. Bibliographic reference 2. Standards 3. Traced 4. Accession 5. Microdocuments 6. Macrodocuments 7. Author's affiliation B. Source y. Title 10. Statement of responsibility area It's assessment tume. If your score ts 8 correct answers, then congratulations! You passed this lesson. Higher than 8 is very satisfactory or excellent. You may proceed to the next lesson. If your score is lower than 8, I advice you to go over the items which vou missed.52 MODULE 1 « Bibliographic References Portion of Absracts References and Information of Interest Borko. H. & Bernier, C.L. (1975) Abstracting Concepts and Methods. New York: Academic Press. Cremmins, Edward T, (1982). The Art of Abstracting. Philadelphia: ISI Press. Lancaster, EW. (1991) Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and Practice. London: The Library Association. Rowley, Jennifer. (1988) Abstracting and Indexing., 24 ed. London: Clive Bingley.LESSON 6 WRITING THE BODY OF THE ABSTRACT Objectives: At the end of this lesson, the learner must be able to: 1. know the seven steps in writing the body of the abstract; 2. identify the five components of the abstract proper; 3. understand the do's and don'ts in writing the abstract proper, 4. analyze some examples of abstracts lifted from some abstracting journals. Writing the abstract proper Some investigative studies or contributed papers to seminars or conferences already contain abstracts prepared by the author themselves. In situations like these, the task of writing the abstract becomes easier on the part of the abstractor because he can lift the said abstract verbatimly but appropriately noted as the author’s abstract on the assumption that subject-wise it is authoritative. In some instances, the abstractor may modify the author prepared abstract to confirm with the accepted abstracling standards. What are the steps in writing the body of the abstract? In the event that the document does not contain author-prepared abstract, the following steps should be followed in writing the abstract proper.54 MODULE 1 © Writing the Body of the Abstract STEP 1 READ THE DOCUMENT The purpose of reading the document is to gain an understanding of its content and an appreciation of its scope. The introductory paragraph of the document should be carefully read because the introduction usually depicts the objective of the author in writing the paper. The summary and conclusions at the end of the document should be noted because they reveal the author’s findings which form part of the abstract. STEP 2 NOTE DOWN KEY INFORMATION Note down the answers to the following questions: 1, What did the author hope to accomplish? (These are the purposes or objectives of the study), or why the study was conducted? 2. How did the author/investigator achieve what he wanted to accomplish? (Describe the methodology and techniques of the study; type and number of respondents, test applied, and measurements used) 3. What did the author find and conclude? (Highlight the main findings and clearly state the conclusions of the study. Describe the findings as concisely and informatively as possible. STEP 3 ORGANIZE THE KEY INFORMATION Having extracted the key information from the document, organize them by making a rough draft of an abstract from notes recorded in STEP 2, using a standard format and in keeping with the sequencing of the components and word length of original draft. STEP 4 FOLLOW STANDARD ABSTRACT FORMAT Abstracts have three major parts, namely; the reference, body, and the signature. The reference portion directs the customers to the original document, hence it should be accurate and complete. The body contains the abstract itself, the signature indicates the abstractor (either the name or initials may be given) and usually comes at the end of the abstract proper.