- Keywording is used primarily in
online help materials. It can be hard-coded jumps,
similar to HTML jumps, or it can be inserted as embedded
coding and compiled into a list by the software. Wright
Information uses RoboHELP, RoboHTML, and other tools to
keyword help files.
- Weighted-text search tools, similar
to the intelligence in agents or Microsoft's Office
Assistant, involve building terminology sets for helping
the intelligence work. An example would be helping an
agent identify the different between a cell in an Excel
spreadsheet and a cell in a jail. Often terminology sets
are built specifically for the information system,
outlining all the synonyms and special meanings that a
particular product uses. Indexing thought and practice
comes into play in the building of these terminology
sets.
- Automated indexing software builds a
concordance, or a word list, from
processed files. Although the manufacturers often claim
these packages build indexes, the actual results are a
list of words and phrases, sometimes useful in the
beginning stages of building and index. Usability tests
of these packages have shown that the word lists omit
many key ideas and phrases, and cannot fine-tune
terminology for easy retrieval, or build the needed
hierarchies of ideas that professional indexing can.
Free-text search, also produced automatically by
software, is useful in some environments, but tests have
shown the retrieval is much higher with a human-generated
index. Wright Information owns software that will
generate concordances, but doesn't use it for a finished
index.
- Abstracting and
citation-control software aids in
building abstracts with associated keywords. Wright
Information uses ProCite for abstracting needs.
Contact Wright Information at jancw@wrightinformation.com,
or call 505-281-2600