The Organization of Information - Softcover

"This book belongs in all libraries and many personal bookshelves as well."

Introducing readers to the principles and processes of the organization of information, this text provides practitioners and students of library and information science with a vital guide to the organization of information in libraries. Arlene Taylor begins with a broad overview of the concept and its role in human endeavours, then proceeds to a detailed discussion of such basic retrieval tools as bibliographies, catalogues, indexes, finding aids, registers, databases, major bibliographic utilities and other organizing entities. After tracing the development of the organization of recorded information in Western civilization from 2000 BCE to the present, she addresses topics that include encoding standards (MARC, SGML and various DTDs), metadata (description, access and access control), verbal subject analysis including controlled vocabularies and ontologies, classification theory and methodology, arrangement and display, system design, and a discussion of the future of the field. Designed to enable the understanding of the theory, principles, standards and tools of the organization of information, this work provides an introduction to information organization in all types of environments.