Subject languages, part 1 Scope INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Goals of subject languages Ranganathan: To provide a helpful sequence of documents, so that: Readers discover topics that may be useful. Books can display their potential to readers. Svenonius: To improve collocation in retrieval; to navigate the bibliographic universe; to represent knowledge (as opposed to information). INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Components of subject languages Subject languages contain concepts represented as terms. The concept of “pH of water components of soil, and the effects of this pH on the soil’s use in supporting plant life,” may be represented as the term “soil acidity.” INF 384 C, Spring 2009 3

Defining subject language scope What marks the extent of a subject? Should a classification of “information organization” as a subject include information retrieval? Should it include philosophy of language? Should it include critical theory? How does one make such decisions? INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Rationale for including concepts in subject languages Literary warrant. Use warrant. Structural warrant. Cultural warrant. Others? INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Example of structural warrant <railways by means of propulsion> <railways by power source> <stationary traction source> atmospheric railway cable haulage railway counterbalanced railway water balance railway rope haulage railway gravity railway <traction source moving with train> animal powered railway horse railway locomotive railway <self-propelled using externally supplied power> electric railway From the MDA Railway Object Name thesaurus INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Defining subject domains as discourse communities Hjorland and Albrechtsen argue that information systems should be based on discourse communities of academic disciplines. Psychology = what psychology researchers say, because this is the closest we can get to the “reality” of psychology. INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Representing competing ideas in a subject domain But a behaviorist psychologist and a psychologist who adopts a psychoanalytic perspective may have widely differing views, even on basic concepts. Hjorland and Albrechtsen contend that a domain analysis should uncover these schools of thought that exist within a discipline, in order to represent them within an information system. For a behaviorist, the concept of personality is the result of learned behavior patterns involving actions and preferred consequences. Obey and get the dog biscuit. For a psychoanalyst, personality results from the interactions between id, ego, and superego, repressed desires, and all of that. These two psychology experts might be using the same TERM...personality...to MEAN a completely different concept, one wrapped up in DIFFERENT theories of how people construct identities and interact with others, in fact different theories of PSYCHOLOGY AS A SUBJECT, the phenomena that it includes, how to study those phenomena, the effects of those phenomena, and so on. Hjorland would say that to adequately represent a subject in a classification or other subject language, the creator of the language needs to understand the current state of knowledge in the domain of psychology, including all the different means of understanding and intepreting the same phenomena, like personality, and show how these approaches to knowledge, or interpretive modes, or epistemelogical frameworks, if you will, operate within the discipline. In fact a primary goal of a knowledge representation is to illuminate the various schools of thought that are working to structure information within the subject field. So, to use a possible example from your gardening exercise, one school of “lawn maintenance” might be like, watering, it’s all about the regular watering, and weeding out the pesky clovers and other natural plants, and another school of lawn maintenance might be on the other hand, saying that it’s all about taking advantage of natural precipitation as much as possible, and incorporating the wildflowers into the lawn expanse, and so on. So in the domain analytic perspective, part of your mission, as the creator of a subject language, would be to understand these two schools of thought and be able to represent them both in your language. I’m not saying that you should do that in your assignment; I’m just saying that’s what the domain analytic view would say. INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Understanding the significance of domain analysis The domain analytic approach acknowledges problems with the semantic validity of information systems and asserts the need for systematic and rigorous justification for knowledge representations. The domain analytic approach clarifies that a subject may have many interpretations and provides a means for validating some of those interpretations. A domain analysis attempts to answer the following question: What holds documents in a particular field and people who work in that field together? And it requires that the subject language designer actually attempt to understand and interpret the domain, instead of just compiling terminology like a robot. Literary warrant just says that if people write about it, it’s important. It doesn’t ask that the classificationist understand exactly what different people MEAN when they write using particular terms and the extent to which different meanings are regarded as potentially stronger or weaker, or current or outmoded, within a particular discipline. INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Understanding the limitations of domain analysis The domain analytic approach ignores concerns related to an information system’s audience and purpose. The domain analytic approach doesn’t explain how a designer of subject languages should decide between competing approaches to the subject. If your audience for a psychology of personality classification is a bunch of Freudians, then perhaps you really only need to include the Freudian idea of personality...unless your classification is to help Freudians understand behaviorists. This speaks to a key limitation of the pure domain analytic approach...there’s no discussion of how a designer is to determine which approaches to personality or anything else are valid enough to include. Do ideas of reincarnation and past lives count? Domain analysis doesn’t help one make such decisions...but a good sense of your audience and purpose can help. And then, too, at some point, you as the classificationist have to decide what makes sense for the representation you are creating. So, in terms of your assignment, I think the idea of a domain analysis can help you structure the research you might do to investigate your subject; it can help you map out the potentially complicated terrain of the subject landscape you have selected. And it can help, in the same way as the warrants, to provide rationale for including or excluding concepts. But ultimately you as the designer will have to use these various sources of information and strategies to impose your own sense of coherence on the domain you have identified. You will, in essence, be constructing your own version of the domain of lawn maintenance or information literacy or human rights or whatever subject you have chosen. you will be documenting your own theory of the subject. INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Understanding your responsibility as a classificationist A domain analysis won’t actually make decisions for you; it will just provide information for you to use, in concert with your audience description, classification purpose, and your own goals and editorial judgment. Every classification is a type of argument for a particular interpretation of a subject. You need to own that! INF 384 C, Fall 2009

Performing a domain analysis Find documents that help you determine ontology (important things), epistemology (important problems, theories, methods and practices), and social structures in the selected domain. For example: FAQs, beginners’ guides, and textbooks. Bibliographies. Professional organizations. Online user forums. Actual people! INF 384 C, Fall 2009

For your assignment: Domain research will help you figure out the potential shapes of a subject: meaning, scope, extent. A defined audience and purpose will help you decide which of various shapes to implement. Your goals matter too! INF 384 C, Fall 2009