These are examples of a need for a controlled vocabulary (whether it be a
thesaurus or a taxonomy) that is needed for each database.  Tie the
controlled vocabulary to a search engine and it makes it easier to retrieve
articles.  If a repository is working without a controlled vocabulary in
their database, then the retrieval process for them and their patrons is a
"hit and miss" approach that will yield, for example, the two different
Google articles below.

Russell D. James, M.A.
MLIS student
Louisiana State University
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Dean DeBolt
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 9:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: RAINdrip: Wonder if reading through 25 year old e-mails will
evoke the same feelings....

I've noted one additional problem with manipulating electronic
information and
that is the lack of "subject" access.   What I mean by that, is that
I've read a number
of electronic articles and they will often lack the important keywords
that would make
the article retrievable.    For example, there are articles about Google
(the company
or corporate entity) and articles about Google (the search engine).
Most newspapers are eager to maintain an electronic archives that is
searchable by keyword, title, date, and author...and sometimes a broad
subject, like "obituaries."
But just a search of the term "google" will yield thousands of entries
where you might
only want one.    I've had some interesting searches of my e-mail
archives where I
discovered that I could go through an entire e-mail and not mention a
person's last
name....so my search never turned up that e-mail.

Dean


Dean DeBolt
University Librarian, Special Collections
John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
850-474-2213
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