PLANNING OP LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION SYSTEMS : NEED
FOR A CELL FOR DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH IN DOCUMENTATION.
K N PRASAD, Documentalist Central
rMachine Tool
I n s t i t u t e , B a n g a l o r e .
The need f o r developing t h e b a s i c t o o l s
f o r documentation s e r v i c e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e d e
-sign o f depth s c h e d u l e s f o r c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ,
by the v a r i o u s documentation c e n t r e s t h e m s e l v e s ,
is d i s c u s s e d . The work a n a l y s i s and t h e t i m e
r e q u i r e d f o r t h e d e s i g i o f d e p t h schedule i s
i l l u s t r a t e d w i t h a c a s e s t u d y . I t i s suggested
t h a t i t i s much more h e l p f u l f o r t h e v a r i o u s
documentation c e n t r e s to d e s i g n the depth
s c h e d u l e s r a t h e r than to depend en one or two
r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t i o n s . T h e r e f o r e , i t i s
proposed t h a t a d r a f t plan f o r l i b r a r y and
documentation s y s t e m s should make p r o v i s i o n
f o r developmental research in the f i e l d of
l i b r a r y a n d i n f o r m a t i o n s c i e n c e .
0 INTRODUCTION
01 Documentation
Need f o r Developmental R e s e a r c h s Case Study D04
02 Documentation S e r v i c e s
Some of t h e v e r y common documentation s e r v i c e s , which a r e provided i n s p e c i a l i s t l i b r a r i e s a r e ( 1 ) Here documentation l i s t s ; (2) A b s t r a c t s o n demand o r i n a n t i c i p a t i o n ; ( 3 ) R e t r o s p e c t i v e b i b l i o g r a p h i e s ; and t h e l i k e . The e f f i c i e n c y of any of t h e documenta-tion s e r v i c e s depends mostly upon t h e t e c h n i q u e s u s e d i n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n o f t h e s e p u b l i c a t i o n s .
0 3 Tools f o r t h e Documentation S e r v i c e s
I t h a s now been a n e s t a b l i s h e d f a c t t h a t e v e r y documentation system s h o u l d have a f o o l p r o o f b u t h i g h l y f l e x i b l e s t r u c t u r e , i n o r d e r t o d e l i v e r i n f o r m a t i o n s e r v i c e t o t h e b e s t a d v a n t a g e s o f t h e r e a d e r s . T o infuse p r o d u c t i v i t y i n t o the s y s t e m , c e r t a i n b a s i c
t o o l s such a s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and c a t a l o g u i n g a r e v e r y e s -s e n t i a l . S o t h e l i b r a r i a n -s and d o c u m e n t a l i -s t -s a r e
engaged in promoting d e v e l o p m e n t a l r e s e a r c h on t h e s e t o o l s , because a l l t h e schemes o f c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o r c a t a l o g u i n g code3 a r e n o t c a p a b l e enough t o b e a d o p t e d
to any environment p r e s e n t e d by each n a t i o n a l / l o c a l documentation c e n t r e .
04 C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
The scheme f o r c l a s s i f i c a t i o n a d o p t e d s h o u l d have the f o l l o w i n g f e a t u r e s :
1 R e c o g n i z i n g t h e new i d e a s as f o r m i n g components o f d i f f e r e n t v a r i e t i e s o f s u b j e c t s ;
2 D e t e r m i n i n g t h e i n t e r - r e l a t i o n between o r among the components o f t h e d i f f e r e n t v a r i e t i e s o f s u b j e c t s , and a r r a n g i n g them in a sequence r e v e a l i n g t h e n a t u r o o f t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s ;
3 Ranking appropriately the respective components of t h e subjects among the existing ones ( 1 ) ; and
4 Reducing the search range within a p a r t i c u l a r subject and lead a reader precisely to h i s a r e a ( s ) of i n t e r e s t in the subject.
The inadequacy of a scheme is always exposed at the time of a c r i s i s . Multi-dimensional growth of l i t e r a t u r e has been shown to be the main cause for the breakdown of many a scheme for c l a s s i f i c a t i o n . Unless there is a b u i l t - i n mechanism which can faci-l i t a t e the accommodation of any number of new ideas without i t s e l f being broken down, there is always
the danger of a f a t a l dismissal of the scheno from u s e . This would speak on cany other f a c t o r s includ-ing the economics of the documentation system which has adopted such a scheme.
05 Development of the Scheme f o r C l a s s i f i c a t i o n In addition to having a b u i l t - i n mechanism which prevents the breakdown or the f a i l u r e , it should also have a mechanism for the development of t h e system
and to maintain the f i t n e s s of the sane. Expericnce has shown t h a t unless a documentation centre develops such techniques and devices so as to have control over the information it proposes to process, there is always the danger of facing a breakdown in the system. It is also known t h a t no scheme for c l a s s i -f i c a t i o n is complete by i t s e l -f , which means that it cannot, as it i s , at any time taken to be f i n a l and applied for classifying documents. Knowledge, as has already been s t a t e d , is ever growing and a
Need f o r Developmental r e s e a r c h : Case Study D07 with t h i s r a t e of growth, end which can accommodate
the new i s o l a t e s cropping up in t h e i r r i g h t p l a c e s , can be adopted f o r p r o c e s s i n g the i n f o r m a t i o n . Colon C l a s s i f i c a t i o n is a good example f o r such a type of scheme.
06 Meed f o r Research in t h e r e s i g n of Depth Schedule
Documentation r e s e a r c h in I n d i a today/mainly is conducted by t h e Documentation Research and T r a i n i n g Centre (Indian S t a t i s t i c a l I n s t i t u t e ) , Bangalore and a few Library Science departments in some of the
u n i v e r s i t i e s . I t i s obvious t h a t i t i s n o t p o s s i b l e for one or two such i n s t i t u t i o n s to conduct r e s e a r c h and develop schemes f o r c l a s s i f i c a t i o n f o r v a r i e d branches of knowledge. Every documentation u n i t of different r e s e a r c h o r g a n i s a t i o n s should become documen-tation r e s e a r c h c e n t r e s a l s o . The r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of a documentation u n i t does n o t end j u s t by providing the documentation s e r v i c e s t o i t s c l i e n t e l e , but a l s o l i e s with the development of t o o l s and t e c h n i q u e s for providing such s e r v i c e s . Such t e c h n i q u e s amongst others i n c l u d e t h e design of depth v e r s i o n s of c l a s s i -fication schemes. The documentation u n i t s of
research i n s t i t u t i o n s can a c t a s l a b o r a t o r i e s f o r designing and developing depth v e r s i o n s of c l a s s i -f i c a t i o n schemes.
07 Research C e l l
Therefore, i t i s very much e s s e n t i a l f o r a
v e r s i o n s o f c l a s s i f i c a t i o n f o r s u b j e c t s o f i t s i n t e -r e s t . I t i s impo-rtant t h a t they should d o t h i s t y p e o f r e s e a r c h a c t i v i t y because i t i s they who f e e l the p u l s e of t h e r e a d e r s , and they have a much b e t t e r c o n t r o l over t h e l i t e r a t u r e than t h e one or two re-search (documentation) c e n t r e s , where b a s i c a l l y funda-EPntal r e s e a r c h can be conducted. I n s t e a d of t h e "They supply, we apply" p r i n c i p l e , "We demand, we s u p -p l y , we a-p-ply" should be encouraged.
The documentation c e n t r e which promotes t h e
formation of such a c e l l s h a l l decide in c o n s u l t a t i o n with the DRTC or my such c e n t r e , s u b j e c t s f o r which i t should design depth schedules o r develop those which a r e a l r e a d y a v a i l a b l e .
03 Development Plan
Thus, i t becomes e v i d e n t t h a t w h i l e developing any plan f o r a n a t i o n a l , r e g i o n a l / l o c a l documentation c e n t r e , provision should be made f o r a design c e l l f o r developmental r e s e a r c h i n v a r i o u s t o o l s and techniques f o r documentation. In p a r t i c u l a r , as t h e r e is an ever i n c r e a s i n g demand on c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s y s t e m f o r d o c u s e a t a t i o n purpose, i t becomes e s s e n t i a l to keep a group of p r o f e s s i o n a l s to i n t e r a c t w i t h new developments in t h e s u b j e c t - f i e l d as w e l l as t h e l a t e s t developments i n t h e f i e l d o f l i b r a r y c l a s s i -f i c a t i o n . In -f a c t , in the N a t i o n a l In-formation and Documentation C e n t r e f o r Machine Tools and Production E n g i n e e r i n g , a p r o v i s i o n f o r r e s e a r c h c e l l in Docu-mentation has been proposed.
1 SCOPE OP PAPER
-Need f o r Developmental R e s e a r c h : Case Study D21
sions of Colon C l a s s i f i c a t ion for various subjects in a National Documentation Centre without g e t t i n g into conflict with the routine work of providing v a r i e t i e s of documentation s e r v i c e s . In order to show a quanti-tative a n a l y s i s , a work and time analysis has been cade by a c t u a l l y preparing a depth version of CC for compound subjects going with the Host Subject
"Grind-ing Machine Production" as an i l l u s t r a t i o n . 11 Boundary Conditions
The following are the main boundary conditions within which the designing work can be done:
1 Knowledge of the methodology of designing a ceoth schedule for c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ; and
2 Knowledge of principles and processes of the theory of l i b r a r y c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ;
2 PROCEDURE ADOPTED FOR DESIGN;
20 Steps
The major steps which are involved in the design of a depth schedule are:
1 Selection of the subject; 2 L i t e r a t u r e survey;
3 Choice of i s o l a t e s ;
4 I d e n t i f i c a t i o n of Quasi I s o l a t e s and determi.-nation of t h e i r sequence;
5 Arrangement of s p e c i a t o r s ; 6 Preparation of the index;
7 Examples for t e s t i n g the schedule; and 8 Preparation of an alphabetical subject index. 21 Selection of Subject
The documentation service that is being given in an organisation w i l l provide a clue in the choice
of the s u b j e c t s t h a t need to be given preference in designing the depth schedules. Consultation w i t h t h e other members of t h e l i b r a r y staff (or of the docu-mentation research c e i l ) would a l s o help in s e l e c t i n g the s u b j e c t s . This work of s e l e c t i o n may not t a k e much t i m e , provided a d e c i s i o n has already been taken
to s t a r t with a p r o j e c t of designing depth s c h e d u l e s . 22 Literature Survey
The p r e l i m i n a r y survey involves the finding or s e l e c t i o n of the p e r i o d i c a l s , trade catalogues and the l i k e , which deal with the subject s e l e c t e d for t h e purpose of designing a schedule. This is important because it is t h e s e we s e l e c t e d documents which would aid in g e t t i n g the i s o l a t e s f o r
enume-r a t i o n in t h e schedules. These documents a enume-r e scanned through and e n t r i e s prepared for those a r t i c l e s which provide us w i t h i s o l a t e s . The t i t l e s are made f u l l y expressive and w r i t t e n on s e p e r a t e s l i p s .
23 Choice of l s o l a t e s
W i t h t h e e n t r i e s prepared from an a s s e r t e d v a r i e t y of documents, i s o l a t e s a r e picked up end w r i t t e n in s e p e r a t e s l i p s mentioning the a p p r o p r i a t e fundamental c a t e g o r i e s to which they belong. Contextual meanings are w r i t t e n for those i s o l a t e s which would give
d i f f e r e n t meaiings i n d i f f e r e n t c o n t e x t s . I t may a l s o be e s s e n t i a l to w r i t e t h e meanings of synonymous words, 6ince it would f a c i l i t a t e in the arrangement of the i s o l a t e s .
24 Arrangement
Need f o r developmental R e s e a r c h : Case Study D3
of t h e i r s e q u e n c e , and arrangement of s p e c i a t o r c w i t h -i n t h e d -i f f e r e n t Q u a s -i I s o l a t e s and a s s -i g n m e n t o f n o t a t i o n i s t h e n e x t s t e p t o b e f o l l o w e d . T h i s would r e q u i r e a f a i r l y good knowledge of t h e t h e o r y of
l i b r a r y c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and a l i t t l e p r a c t i c e i n the design and development of depth s c h e d u l e s .
25 W r i t i n g t h e S c h e d u l e
A f t e r f i n a l i z i n g t h e arrangement o f t h e Quasi I s o l a t e s and S p e c i a t o r s and a s s i g n i n g s u i t a b l e n o t a
-t i o n , -t h e s c h e d u l e h a s -t o b e n e a -t l y w r i -t -t e n i n -the eeauence o f i n c r e a s i n g o r d i n a l v a l u e o f n o t a t i o n i n each o f t h e d i f f e r e n t s c h e d u l e s d e s i g n e d f o r i h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f s u b j e c t s .
26 P r e p a r a t i o n of Index
This i n v o l v e s t h e f o l l o w i n g t y p e s of work:
1 W r i t i n g t e r m s i n t h e s c h e d u l e , w i t h a b b r e v i a t i o n s of t h e i r a p p r o p r i a t e fundamental c a t e g o r i e s , on sepa-r a t e s l i p s o f papesepa-r;
2 A l p h a b e t i z a t i o n ; snd
3 W r i t i n g t h e index s e p a r a t e l y .
27 Examples f o r T e s t i n g the Schedule
A s e l e c t number of e n t r i e s — an a s s o r t m e n t — are to be c l a s s i f i e d . An a l p h a b e t i c a l s u b j e c t index has to be prepared a c c o r d i n g to Chain I n d e x i n g f o r t h e
examples.
3 CASE STUDY
The f o l l o w i n g t a b l e i l l u s t r a t e s the work and tine a n a l y s i s f o r t h e d e s i g n o f a depth s c h e d u l e f o r the compound s u b j e c t s going w i t h t h e Host S u b j e c t "Grinding M a c h i n e P r o d u c t i o n " .
SN Nature of Work Quantity of work Time taken 1 Selection of subject
2 Identification of subject to be covered
3 l i t e r a t u r e survey Scanning and selection Entry preparation Writing isolates on
slips (Average: 7 iso-lates per entry)
3 days (9 hrs) 15 days (30 hrs) 250 trade cata- 15 hrs logues + 30
periodicals
100 articles & 3.5 min/ 250 trade cata- item logues
-do-2500 from 350 entries 7 Identification of Quasi 255 (QI)
Isolates and determi-nation of their sequence 8 Assignment of sectors
(Notation)
9 Arrangement of speciators 1200 specia-(including arrangement tors under of organs of removes 1 255 (QI) and 2)
10 Assignment of rotation (including assignment of notation for organs of removes 1 and 2) 11 Writing the schedule
12 Preparrtion of slips 1500 13 Alphabetization
14 Writing
15 Classification 20 entries 16 Alphabetical subject index
Need f o r Developmental R e s e a r c h : Case Study DA
SN
Mature of Fort Quantityof work ' Tine taken
17 A l p h a b e t i s a t i o n .. 30 min 13 W r i t i n g .. 6 b r a 19 P i n a l checking f o r minor
c o r r e c t i o n s 1 hr T o t a l ? Apprcx 255 hrs
4 ANNOTATION
1 The time taken f o r i d e n t i f y i n g t h e c o v e r a g e may be m i n i m i s e d , provided t h e person who d e s i g n s t h e s c h e d u l e , has some p r i o r knowledge of t h e s u b j e c t .
2 I d e n t i f y i n g t h e Quasi I s o l a t e s , d e t e r m i n i n g t h e i r s e q u e n c e , a r r a n g i n g s p e c t a t o r s end a s s i p i i r g n o t a t i o n — t h e time t a k e n f o r a l l t h e s e may look
c o n s i d e r a b l y low. The r e a s o n f o r t h i s may be due t o : ( a ) C o n s i d e r a b l e knowledge i n d e s i r i n g d e p t h
s c h e d u l e s ;
(b) Knowledge of t h e t h e o r y and p r a c t i c e of l i b r a r y c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ; and
(c) A v a i l a b i l i t y of a depth s c h e d u l e or. almost a s i m i l a r s u b j e c t — Gopinath (M A) . Lathe p r o d u c -t i o n * Dep-th c l a s s i f i c a -t i o n v e r s i o n of CC (Lib so 3 ; 1971; Paper K ) .
3 Time taken f o r t h e i n d e x p r e p a r a t i o n for j u s t 20 examples nay look t o o much. The r e a s o n for t h i s i s t h a t t h e t y p e o f i n d e x i n g adopted w a s t h e
Key Word and C o n t e x t (= KWAC), a v e r s i o n of chain indexing and b e c a u s e t h e p r e p a r a t i o n was done manually.
4 The time taken f o r c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h the experts r e g a r d i n g t h e i s o l a t e s s e l e c t e d and t h e i r
arrangements couldn't be quantified as it was spread throughout the course of the preparation of the schedule.
5 Since the s t r u c t u r e of nascent subject is frequently l i a b l e to change on account of developments in t h e wave f r o n t of t h a t s u b j e c t , the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n system used for any documentation s e r v i c e w i l l have to be kept u p - t o - d a t e . This is a continuous p r o c e s s . The u s e r ' s i n t e r a c t i o n over the same is a l s o to be kept in view. This process cannot be quantified end t h e r e f o r e , the time f a c t o r cannot be determined.
5 CONCLUSION
It has been shown t h a t the t o t a l time needed for designig depth schedule by a p r o f e s s i o n a l documentalist on Job is only 235 h o u r s . The work cannot be counted as a day-to-day a f f a i r . It may be spread over months. But c o n t i n u i t y has to be maintained. By t h i s process,
several manhours can be saved, as otherwise the work of a documentalist in a s e r v i c e c e n t r e gets stranded many a time for want of a schedule. F u r t h e r , t h e c e n t r e s which a r e s o l e l y r e s p o n s i b l e for developing schedules may not give p r i o r i t y for the s u b j e c t s f o r which a l o c a l documentation c e n t r e needs a schedule. They may, on the o t h e r hand, extend a c t i v e p a r t i c i
-pation and cooperation with the p a r t i c u l a r documen-t a documen-t i o n c e n documen-t r e in designing documen-the much needed schedules. Besides t h i s , t h e designing of depth schedules in a s e r v i c e l i b r a r y provides enough scope f o r the c o n t i -nuing education of documentalists. Therefore, it is
Need for Developmental Research: Case Study D7 field of l i b r a r y science and documentation.
I an indebted to Shri S S e e t h a r a m a and Shri M A Gopinath of DRTC for t h e i r valuable guifcice in the preparation of t h i s paper. I am also thankful t o -Shri Abdul Rahman, Documentation Officer, Central Machine Tool I n s t i t u t e , Bangalore, for h i s valuable suggestions and for permitting me to present t h i s paper for the seminar.
7 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
1 Sec 04, BHATTACHARYYA (G). Towards an i n t e g r a t e d theory of n o t a t i o n a l language. (Lib s c . 10; 1973; Paper U).
2 Sec 01 RANGANATHAN (S R ) . What of documentation. (In Ranganathan (S R), Ed. Documenta-tiOB and i t s f a c e t s . 1963. Chap B 2 ) .
