1/19/00 abstract
Lancaster, F. W. (1998). Abstracts: types and functions. In Indexing
and abstracting in theory and practice, 2nd ed. (p. 94-106).
Champaign, IL: Graduate School of Library and Information Science,
University of Illinois.
Abstracts and the types of information typically included in an abstract are described. Indicative and informative abstracts are contrasted. A comparison is made of the lesser-used types of abstracts, including critical, modular, mini, and telegraphic.
1/19/00 abstract
David, C., et al. (1995). Indexing as problem solving: a cognitive
approach to consistency. In T. Kinney (Ed.), Forging New Partnerships
in Information: Converging Technologies: Proceedings o the 58th ASIS
Annual Meeting (p. 49-55). Medford, NJ: Information Today for the
American Society for Information Science.
Indicative abstract
Presents a model of indexing as a problem-solving task. To refine the model, indexers were asked to index documents using different thesauri. Data about the indexers' thought processes was collected using think-aloud, retrospective verbalization, and peer review methods.
Informative abstract
An analysis of differences in document indexing, viewing the indexing process as a problem-solving task. Four indexers were asked to index the same four (or two?) documents. Data about the indexers' thought processes was collected using think-aloud, retrospective verbalization, and peer review methods. Differences in the index terms produced can be explained by paying attention to the goals that each indexer used when creating the terms.
1/19/00 abstract
Tibbo, H, R. (1992). Abstracting across the disciplines: a content
analysis of abstracts from the natural sciences, the social sciences,
and the humanities with implications for abstracting standards and
online information retrieval. Library & Information Science Research,
14. 31-56.
Indicative abstract
An analysis of whether the ANSI and ISO standards for abstracts are as universally applicable as they claim to be, especially regarding history articles. Argues that standards are necessary, and discusses the importance of abstracts. An analysis was performed to determine how well typical abstracts from chemistry, psychology, and history followed the standards.
Informative abstract
An analysis of whether the ANSI and ISO standards for abstracts are as universally applicable as they claim to be. Abstracts from history articles and dissertations were compared with abstracts from chemistry and psychology articles. Direct comparison is problematic, because history articles seldom include author-generated abstracts. History abstracts were found to be generally shorter than the other disciplines, thought this is probably a side effect of the particular document set. Experimenters classified sentences from the abstracts according to the ANSI/ISO standard. It was found that more than 60% of the sentences in history abstracts cannot be classified according to the standard, while less than 10% of sentences in psychology and chemistry abstracts fail to be classified. Surprisingly, chemistry abstracts contain more sentences of background material than history abstracts.
1/19/00 abstract
Randi, J. (1996). Investigating miracles, Italian-style. Scientific
American (February 1996), 136.
Indicative abstract
A scientifically-minded essay on miracles. Discusses three supposed miracles that have been hailed in Italy, and gives possible explanations as to their causes.
Informative abstract
A summary of the work Luigi Garlaschelli has done to disprove supposed miracles in Italy. Bloody tears found on statues could be caused by people pouring blood into the statues. The "blood" that spontaneously appeared on food in Bolsena could be a harmless fungus. Another supposed miracle involving blood that turns from solid to liquid is reproducible using common materials.
1/25/00 abstract
Fidel, R. (1986). Writing abstracts for free-text searching. Journal
of Documentation, 42 (1), 11-21.
Analyzes 123 sets of abstract-writing guidelines. All editors agree that concepts important for retrieval should be included in the abstract, though there is no agreement on which terms are important or how they should be included.
1/25/00 class notes
Notes (and thoughts) from class of 1/19/00
A critique is scholarly and comparative, while a review is written for more popular consumption.
Jacob Says:
``It is important to have the abstractor...come to the document with an objective approach.''I'm not convinced of this. Author abstracts are usually biased. However, the author can sometimes manage to make sense in an abstract, even when the rest of the paper is murky. This is similar to a politician who can stand and talk about nothing all day, and only manages to make a coherent statement when pressed for a yes or no answer on some issue. If I can't make sense of a paper, I sometimes re-read the abstract in an attempt to regain the author's point. A completely objective writer may not understand the paper well enough to capture the point in an abstract, rendering the entire document useless.
Jacob Says:
``An abstract is an accurate, succinct, and unambiguous statement of the content of a document.'' (aka Accurate, Brief, and Clear)
Why should I keep personal abstracts?
Indicative abstracts are about the document. Use present tense. Usually 1-3 sentences.
Informative abstracts are about the content. Use past tense for background, procedure, etc. Use present for results and conclusions. Often a full paragraph long.
1/25/00 group work
Small group abstract work on 1/19/00
Our group consists of: Shirley Snyder, Marissa Priddis, Ryan Scherle, and Jerry Burton We reworked the Tibbo abstracts that group members provided and ended up with the following:
Indicative
Analyzes the extent to which the ANSI and ISO standards for abstracting are universally applicable, especially regarding history articles. 120 abstracts from chemistry, psychology, and history were rated on compliance to the standards.
Informative
Analyzes the extent to which the ANSI and ISO standards for abstracting are universally applicable, especially regarding history articles. Abstracts from history articles and dissertations were compared with abstracts from chemistry and psychology articles. The history abstracts tend to be the shortest. Less than 40% of the sentences in history abstracts could be classified according to the standard, while more than 90% of sentences in psychology and chemistry abstracts fail to be classified. Standards for history materials have not been determined.
1/26/00 abstract
Borko, H., and Bernier, C. L. (1975). Characteristics and types of
abstracts. In Abstracting concepts and methods (p. 3-24). San Diego,
CA: Academic Press.
Details the purposes, characteristics, and classifications of abstracts, using lengthy examples. Abstracts can be classified by their author, purpose, and form. Alternative document surrogates include extracts and terse literatures.
1/26/00 thought
The above article brings up some problems with our proposed abstracting method. The article doesn't have much in the way of results, conclusions, or recommendations, so an informative abstract based on these items will have little meaningful content.
1/26/00 abstract
Lancaster, F. W. (1998). Writing the abstract. In Indexing and
abstracting in theory and practice, 2nd ed. (p. 107-126). Champaign,
IL: Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of
Illinois.
Describes issues and approaches for writing an abstract. Structured abstracts (including headings for various sections) can aid the reader in scanning. Checklists of items to include can be helpful to the abstractor. The quality of an abstract may be judged on its power in predicting the utility of the document. Humans desire different features from abstracts than computers do. In house abstract bulletins are useful for keeping organizations up to date on the documents that are important for their work.
1/26/00 thought
How can we make a useful abstract from a wishy-washy document? If the
abstract is vague and misleading, it won't be of much use to the
reader. But if we make the abstract clear, it will either be biased or
inaccurate.