INFS 324
INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING
Session 8
Post-Cordinate Indexing System
Prof. Philip Kwaku Kankam (pkkankam@[Link])
2022/2023
2024/2025 Academic Year
Academic Year
1
Lecture Outline
The key topics to be covered in this session are:
01 02 03 04
Post-Coordinate Modern Post- Information Merits and
Indexing Systems Coordinate retrieval in Post- Demerits of Post-
Indexing Systems Coordinate Coordinate
Indexing Systems Indexing Systems
Slide 2
TOPIC
Post-Coordinate Indexing Systems
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Academic 3
Post-Coordinate Indexing Systems
• Post-coordinate indexing systems have so been
designated because of the way they treat the
contents of documents for searching and retrieval.
• A post-coordinate indexing system is one in which
the indexer analyses the contents of composite
subjects
• selects relevant terms for the purpose of
retrieving information
Slide 4
Post-Coordinate Indexing Systems
• Post- coordinate indexing systems began in the 1940s
using various types of cards.
• They were implemented as a means of solving the
difficulties of pre-coordinate indexing systems that
prescribed the use of one term at a time to search.
• Examples of earlier post-coordinate systems are
-Uniterm Index,
-Edge-Notched Cards and
-Optical Coincidence Cards or Peek-a-boo Cards.
Slide 5
TOPIC
Modern Post-Coordinate Indexing
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Academic 6
Modern Post-Coordinate Indexing
• Post-coordinate indexing systems today are
computerized systems.
-Examples of these include
ERIC
CARIS
FAME
GAINS
Slide 7
ERIC
• Example of computer- based post-coordinate
system is ERIC.
• It is the acronym for Educational Resources
Information Center.
• Set up by the National Institute of Education in
the USA
serves as a clearinghouse for educational
information.
Slide 8
Other Post-Coordinate Systems
• Others include FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy)
which is a numerical database;
• CARIS (Current Agricultural Research Information
System.
• In Ghana we have GAINS
Ghana Agricultural Information Network System).
Slide 9
Information retrieval in post-coordinate
TOPIC
indexing systems
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Academic 10
Introduction
Post-coordinate indexing systems offer easier and quicker access
to information than pre-coordinate indexing systems.
• They do these through the varied access to information that
they provide.
• Post-coordinate indexing systems allow for varied access to
information.
For example:
-the searcher can retrieve information directly from the
system, e.g. legal or statistical information
Slide 11
Introduction (Cont.)
-they provide reference or document numbers which
make for easy identification of documents
-they permit the manipulation of data to obtain desired
results
Information retrieval in Post- coordinate indexing systems is
affected by two main factors namely:
• The quality of the Index and
• The Skills of the Searcher
Slide 12
Quality of the Index
This is affected by a number of issues namely:
• The nature of the document that has been indexed,
that is whether the document is in text or tables or
diagrams
• The audience or user orientation of both the original
document and index
• The standard of indexing, that is the thoroughness and
consistency of the indexing
Slide 13
Quality of the Index (Cont.)
• The quality of the thesaurus used for the indexing. - -
Thesauri are often printed by organizations for their
specific use.
-The quality, therefore, varies greatly.
-However, where common terms have been used in the
thesaurus it will facilitate retrieval.
-On the other hand where highly technical terms have
been used it may not help retrieval by ordinary searchers.
• The quality of the document being indexed also affects retrieval.
A simply written and straightforward document may be
easy to index than a complex one which is difficult to
understand.
Slide 14
Skills of the Searcher
In a search, the aim of the investigator is to retrieve
relevant documents.
• The success of the search does not depend on the
quality of the index alone.
• It depends also on the skills of the searcher.
• A skilled searcher can effectively combine terms in
an index to produce results.
• If one strategy does not produce results, a new one
may be adopted.
Slide 15
Search Strategies
• There are different strategies that a searcher may use
in accessing an index:
• These include
-Boolean Search Logic
-Truncation
-Field Searching, etc.
Slide 16
Boolean Search Logic
The first one involves the application of search logic.
This includes
Boolean search logic with the
AND
OR
NOT, operators.
• These allow for retrieval either on individual subjects
or a combination depending on which operator is
used.
Slide 17
Truncation
This involves searching with a shortened stem
For Example:
-such words as
nation,
nationalism,
nationality,
national,
nationalization
can be searched with the stem ‘nation’
Slide 18
Field Searching
This is the ability to search for terms that appear in specific fields
within the record.
• This allows the searcher to be more precise in searching
For Example:
a student’s records would include fields for his
Name
Age
Department
Level
Course
Hall, etc.
Slide 19
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PRE- AND POST-
TOPIC COORDINATE INDEXING SYSTEMS
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Merits of Post-Coordinate Systems
Post-coordination
• permits indexing to any level of exhaustivity
• accommodates different kinds of searching patterns
• makes it easy to add or discard terms when searching
• is syntax-free (i.e., has no citation order) and so
indexing is faster and, therefore, cheaper
• is the dominant method of computer-based searching
Slide 21
Demerits of Post-Coordinate Systems
• the searcher has to input terms individually, and
does not see a full statement of the subject
• indexing to higher levels of exhaustivity can lead to
an excess of recall, with large numbers of marginally
relevant items being retrieved
Slide 22
Merits of Post-Coordinate
Systems(Cont.
• formulating Boolean searches, and the protocols of
computer searching, can be complicated, even in
menu-driven systems
• command-driven online systems are user-unfriendly,
and may require an intermediary.
Slide 23
THANK YOU
Slide 24