Dissertation Information for Margaret E. Anderson NAME: - Margaret E. Anderson
- (Alias) Margaret Anderson - (Alias) M. E. Anderson
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1978)
ADVISORS: - Jesse H. Shera
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Robert E. Schofield - Dorothy Melville Sinclair - Thomas Gleason Morris
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: Roget's Thesaurus: An Explanation of its Purpose and a Study of Some Applcations of its Principles
Abstract: This is a study with a two-fold purpose. First, to examine the Thesaurus at the time it appeared, and to determine the underlying rationale behind its compilation. Secondly, it examines some aspects of library and information science in which the philosophy or the principles guiding Roget's work have already been applied or might be applied in future.
In the first half of the work the Thesaurus is first viewed as it was received, and then we move on to search for an explanation of its compilation in the activities of the doctor/scientist as a professional man in the realm of medicine, and in his activities as a member of many learned, scientific societies. This is followed by a study of the relationship of the Thesaurus to those publications which appeared from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries in all facets of the field of language study-- philosophy, grammar, lexicography and etymology, and the embryonic discipline of linguistics. The Thesaurus is then examined as a classification system, rooted in pre-Darwinian taxonomy, with its Fundamental Categories traceable to the perceptions about language held by the major writers in the school of Scottish Common Sense philosophy.
In the second half of the study we begin by looking for possible applications of Roget's principles in the area of bibliographic classification of library materials. Two classification schemes which were founded on the philosophic premise that materials ought to be organized to reflect consensus as to how they are used; the Bibliographic Classication of Henry Bliss, and the Colon Classification of S.R. Ranganathan, are compared and contrasted with the classification system outlined in the Thesaurus. The remaining chapters are concerned with the role of the Thesaurus in information retrieval. The initial efforts at adapting Roget's model for machine indexing, as made by H.P. Luhn, are outlined, as are systems which moved away from this model to better suit the needs of subject disciplines. Finally, there is an examination of the argument that the grouping of words in the Thesaurus offers potential for the ultimate devising of a methodology to permit semantic classification of language components (words and phrases), to solve the recurring problem which synonymy poses for indexers and abstracters attempting to delineate the full meaning of written text in their retrieval tools.
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MPACT Scores for Margaret E. Anderson A = 0
C = 2
A+C = 2
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:26:08
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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