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Show INTRODUCTION TO INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING, by Donald B. Cleveland and Ana D. Cleveland. 4th ed. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited, 2013. xiii, 384 p. ISBN 978-1-59884-976-9. $55.00 Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting by Donald and Ana Cleveland has been used in Library and Information Science classrooms for many years. The latest edition of this text has been updated to include more information about the current indexing environment where many people seem to favor online and instant access to materials. The text is divided into four main sections. The first section presents the reader with a foundational understanding of indexing and abstracting, including a history of these processes and how information is structured. This section also discusses how people use information as well as how language and human thinking works. The second section contains many applications for the use of indexes and abstracts. There is information about the use of thesauri and controlled vocabularies within indexes as well as the use of folksonomies or user-generated vocabularies. Two chapters are dedicated to the methods that users go through to seek out information as well as the process for accessing information. The final chapter in this section provides a brief description of many different types of indexes including indexes for books, citations, databases, images, and the difference between printed versus electronic indexes. Section three provides information and examples for the creation of indexes and abstracts. While the other sections of this book give detailed background information on the subject, this section provides the reader with some tools that can be used for creating their own indexes and abstracts. While many of the skills discussed in this section require a lot of experience to master, there is good information to help beginners with subject analysis and the "dos-and-don'ts" of the indexing process. There are two major examples within this section to give the reader a better understanding of the process for creating an index. The first example includes the full text of a journal article and the step-bystep procedures for generating a user-friendly index for this type of material. The second example includes a full book chapter and the method for indexing this chapter is discussed as if it included the full book. The third example is for creating abstracts for the papers that the indexes were created for in previous chapters, including guidelines for what type of information should be included in the abstract. The rest of this section includes information for creating other types of indexes (eg, for images, webpages, medical and legal materials), but does not include detailed examples of each of these. The fourth and final section of this book gives the reader information about the indexing and abstracting profession, including ethical and legal issues as well as best practices. Many additional resources are annotated in this section so the reader can identify other books, journal articles, websites, etc., that they could use if they would like to delve further into this topic. The final chapter in the book discusses the educational needs for indexers and abstracters and how someone that is interested in this field as a career can enter the profession. Overall, this book provides some practical information about the topics of indexing and abstracting for readers who know very little to nothing about this subject. While the majority of information seems geared towards the historical and theoretical aspects of indexing, it still is a useful text for those interested in this subject matter. If the reader is hoping for more information about the exact processes to use in order to create an index or abstract with many examples and a detailed treatment of multiple subject areas, then this book won't be as beneficial as other textbooks on this subject. Reviewed by Jeremy Myntti Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT |
