“But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”Searching for
Folktales and Films in Cultural Heritage Repositories
Kathryn La BarreCIRSS Symposium, Graduate School of Library and Information Science
September 2, 2011
Recent Conversations
A Semantic (Faceted) Web?
Formal codingSKOS – OWL Ontology buildingFormal Concept Analysis
Les Cahiers du numérique Instantiation
ISKO C/US AestheticsISKO Spain/UK Geography + Tradition
Returning the (faceted) gaze
Facet Theory: Geographically Bounded - or Transcendent?
TraditionsVagaries of languageFacet AnalysisFundamental CategoriesObject vs Subject Facets
Where It All Began: Brian Vickery
A structure such as facet may validly representcertain aspects of a field, but only limited aspects.
Do we in fact need a much richer set of semantic relationships such as some ontologies are trying to achieve?
In short–what is the future of facets?
FAInformation Organization
Information Retrieval
LIS
Digital Resources
Information Architecture
Knowledge Management
(FA) =Facet Analysis
Terms
Facet A generic term used to denote any component of a compound subject,
(Ranganathan, 1967, p. 88).
Groups of terms derived by taking each term and defining it, per genus et differentiam, with respect for its parent class
(Vickery, 1960, p. 12).
Facet analysis (technique / theoretical framework)Observing the rules of logical division.
(Broughton, 2001, p. 67; Mills, 2004, p. 268).
One characteristic of division is applied at a time [conceptual analysis] Division steps should be logical and proximate Division should be exhaustive
(Mills, 2004, pp. 551).
Peeling the Onion
In Calvin Mooers’ words,
“Facet provides an analytical tool; that is, the idea of facet allows you to peel the onion of an idea.”
Brian Vickery. Faceted Classification Schemes. In Susan Artandi (Ed.) Rutgers Series on Systems for the Intellectual Organization of Information. V. 5. New Brunswick, NJ: Graduate School of Library Science at Rutgers University
Process
• Map– (Context) Examine the domain– (Content) Survey the literature– (Users) Who? Information needs?
• Label/ sort – Depth analysis – Begin analysis with a list of “standard categories” (provisional guide) – Result: set of homogeneous mutually exclusive groups (facets) – Formulate every distinctive logical category and possible relation
• Cluster /order– into arrays or groups which share a common characteristic
Collect exemplars archival sources oral histories
Analyze instantiations
Codify process practice
Evidence / Instantiations
Informed applicationFormalized processTheoretical extension
ARTICULATION
Theory > PracticePractice> Theory
Process?Application?
What is facet analysis?
Heritage
• Universal Decimal Classification– Otlet, La Fontaine -Documentalists– 1904-1907 – scheme published
• Bliss Bibiliographic Classification – Henry Evelyn Bliss – 1908 (practice) 1923-1933 (theory)
• Colon Classification – S. R. Ranganathan,– 1933 (practice) 1937-1967 (theory)
Heritage – Beyond ClassificationApplication Example Purpose
Special subject schemes (CRG)
English Electric Scheme (1958)
British Catalogue of Music (1960)
Classification of Enterprise Activities (1966)
From practice to theory (Richmond, 1988)
Cranfield Tests Faceted Scheme for Aeronautics (Cleverdon, 1962)
American Meteorological Society
(Freeman and Atherton, 1969)
FAST in early IR system testing
Audacious Test of UDC as mechanized searching language (Atherton and Freeman, 1967, 1968)
FAST in computerized indexing and retrieval
Thesaurofacet Classification and controlled vocabulary for sci/tech
(Aitchison, Gomersall and Ireland, 1969)
Vocabulary for IR
PRECIS
POPSI
PREserved Content Index System (Austin, 1974)
Postulate-based Permuted Term
Indexing (Bhattacharyya, 1979)
Generation of subject indexing terms and semantic relations
11
FacetsAIP (1961-1965): LISA (1969/1963) API (1966)
PropertyObject
Method
Material
OperationSystem
Property
Material
OperationProcess Equipment
Emphasis PhenomenonOperating condition
Place Time
Place
Type of work Common Subdivision Living organism
Footer
Collect exemplars archival sources oral histories
Analyze instantiations
Codify process practice
Evidence / Instantiations
Informed applicationFormalized processTheoretical extension
ARTICULATION
Theory > PracticePractice> Theory
Process?Application?
What is facet analysis?
Contemporary Instantiations
• E-Commerce • Library Catalogs• Cultural Heritage sites• Semantic Web
– Formal coding– SKOS – OWL – Ontology building– Formal Concept Analysis
AFS Ethnographic Thesaurus
A General ethnographic concepts. B Belief and worldview C Ritual-belief manifest D Health E Migration and Settlement F Human Dynamics G Law and Governance H Education I Entertainment J Art K Language L Verbal Arts and Literature M Music
N DanceP Material CultureQ FoodwaysR WorkS PerformanceT TransmissionU BeingsV Space and PlaceW TimeX Disciplines- Fields of study.Y Research, Theory, and MethodologyZ Documentation
Current Projects
• Complex resources• Poorly described• Available in multiple formats
– Physical– Digital (repositories)
• Heterogeneous users
Current Projects
Folktales and Facets (with Tilley) Films and Facets (with Cordiero)
Folktales Records/resources/tools3 user types
Task / Facet
Development of codified process
3 films Repository practices2 cultures
Film response / Facet
Test of codified process
Folktale Obstacles
DISCIPLINARY
Tale names vary
Tale motif / theme variants (Cinderella)
ACCESS / DISCOVERY
Misunderstand use of type and motif indexes
Publication overtakes indexing
Catalogs have limited cross-references
Desired Features
• Searchable fields for source notes, cultural attributions
• Descriptor fields for characters and other motifs
• Integration of learning standards, suggested audience for performance
• Directed searching and serendipitous discovery
• Full-text or extended synopses
Folklore FACETS
AGENT author, translator, illustrator
AREA of source, of story
ASSOCIATION awards aggregations (WORK?)
CONTENT characters, illustrations,
CONTEXT age, audience, source language
GENRE tale type
ORIGIN culture, ethnic group
SOURCES bibliographies, notes
TIME of source, of story
TRANSMISSION oral, print, function
VIEWPOINT worldview, culture, ethnic group
Film FACETS
ASSOCIATION Awards, Derivations, Collections, Ratings, Persons
GENRE Type of movie
PRODUCTION VALUES Color, length, format, rights, time of production, location of production
AUDIENCE COMMENTARY
Description, emotion, reviews, ratings, tags
MISE EN SCÈNE Character, object (in film), Location (of action), Time (in film
PLOT Action, Setting/location, Time, Theme
OBJECT culture, ethnic group
RELATION bibliographies, notes
THEME of source, of story
TIME oral, print, function
VIEWPOINT worldview, culture, ethnic group
FACETS / FACET THEORY? APPLIED CRITICAL PRACTICE
terminological vagariesvariant traditionscomparative instantiations
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONSFUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Articulation Agenda
References
• Project homepage (dissertation): http://mypage.iu.edu/~klabarre/facetstudy.html• Hunter, Eric. (2002). Classification made simple. Gower/Ashgate.• Mills, J. (2004). Faceted classification and logical division in information retrieval.
Library Trends 52(3), 541-570.• Ranganathan, S. R. (1959). Elements of library classification. London: Association of
Assistant Librarians.• Ranganathan, S. R. (1937/1957/ 1967). Prolegomena to library science. New York:
Asia Publishing.• Vickery, B. (1960). Faceted classification: A guide to construction and use of special
schemes. London: Aslib.• Sites:
– CompUSA: http://www.compusa.com– Endeca: http://endeca.com– Images of England: http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk
Planes of work
• Idea: The work of FA takes place in the Idea plane, where an entity is analyzed into component parts
• Verbal: FA continues here as further sorting and transformation of the selected categories/facets or terms occur.
• Notational: work of FC -- translating selected terms into notation.
High level categories
Ranganathan Shera/Egan Prieto-Diaz Aitchison Aristotle
>Personality
>Matter
>Energy
>Space
>Time
>Product
>Agent
>Tools
>Act
>Object of action
>Space
>Time
>Function
>Objects
>Medium
>System-type
>Functional area
>Setting
>Entities, things, objects
>Kinds or types/ systems and assemblies
>Actions and activities
>Applications and purposes
>Space, place, location and environment
>Time
>Substance
>Quality >Quantity >Relation >Place
>Time
>Position
>State
>Action
>Affection
Classification- assigning objects to classes
Objects to be classified into a system are called elements, cases, units, exemplars,
specimens or items. They are the sources or `carriers' of properties, characteristics or variables.
A property can only be useful in a classification, if it varies within the set of objects, that is, if at least two different values (categories, states, labels) on the respective property occur in the sample.
When more than one property is used to characterize an object, the object can be described as a vector of values, a profile, a set of symptoms, or a pattern of features. The crucial assumption underlying classification is that objects are elements of a class, of a set, of a partition or-in biology-of a taxon. In other terminologies, the terms `category' or `cluster' are also used.
Classification is the process of finding classes and of assigning entities to these classes. The end product of this order-creating process, however, is often also referred to as `classification.' To stress this distinction, the term `classification system' can be used for the end-product, although in clinical psychology and biology the word `taxonomy' is more common. Identification is the assignment of a specific case or object to (usually only) one of the classes.
H. Feger (2001). Classification: Conceptions in the Social Sciences. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, pp. 1966-1973.
PLANES OF WORKIDEA“The destiny of any idea created by one mind is the minds of the others. The others too need the ideas to be communicated to them.”
thoughts - emotions - context
VERBAL“Along with the capacity to create ideas, came also the capacity to develop an articulate language as medium for communication.”
organization - translation
NOTATIONAL“Words are often replaced by symbols pregnant with precise meaning. Ordinal numbers are used as helpful symbols. … Uniqueness of the idea represented by an ordinal number and the total absence of homonyms and synonyms are the distinctive features of the notational plane, when compared with the verbal plane.”
formalization - codingPROLEGOMENA (1967)
Folktales and Facets[P1] scholar [P2] practitioner [P3] lay user RQ1) What kinds of information seeking tasks are evident for people seeking folktales? Are tasks shared across groups?
RQ2) What characteristics of an information retrieval interface best support tasks?
RQ3) To what extent do current bibliographic records support tasks? What improvements are suggested by facet and task analysis?
Study Overview : Facet AnalysisAgent (may include author/narrator, translator, adapter etc)
Area (of source) (of story)
Association (award) (aggregations of stories) (related materials) (source) (work) (RDA = enhancements)
Content (characters) (illustrations) (language) (mood) (moral) (motif) (narrative structure)
Context (age of story) (audience) (function of story) (source language) (manner of dissemination) (style) (variant type)
Documentation (bibliographies or indexes)
Genre (tale type)
Origin (cultural) (ethnic) (geographical) (theoretical)
Time (of source) (of story)
Transmission (oral) (print) (function)
Viewpoint (cultural) (ethnic) (theoretical) orange text = elements currently found in bibliographic records