School of
Information Management & Systems
Previously School of Library & Information Studies
Michael Buckland,
Professor.
buckland@sims.berkeley.edu
Ordering in retrieval systems.
Michael K. Buckland, Barbara A. Norgard, and Christian Plaunt.
Filing, Filtering, and the First Few Found.
Information Technology and Libraries
12, no. 3 (Sept 1993): 311-319.
Summary:
Alphabetic ordering is necessary for locating headings, subheadings,
and individual records filed in a card catalog. Since only one,
fixed ordering arrangement can be supported, alphabetic order
has dominated, despite the weakness of this arrangement, for
the selecting (e.g. subject searching) role of the catalog.
Alphabetic ordering has been carried over into online catalogs
even though the technological constraints are different.
Searching can be seen as implying multiple retrieval processes:
Partitioning to retrieve; and ordering for display. A choice of
alternative orderings could be supported, including orderings based
on multiple criteria such as date, language, and convenient
availability. Subordinating the traditional alphabetic ordering by
main entry to other forms of filtering using non-topical attributes
can yield useful results. The carrying over of the alphabetic
ordering of the card catalog to the online catalog appears to
have been at a high price for users.
Future online catalogs and online bibliographies should
allow users to specify their own personal preferences as
routine filtering devices for ordering the display of any or
all of their search results. The result is not only a significant
enhancement in service but also an indictment of the traditional
dominance of alphabetic ordering.
Go to
OASIS research program
or to Michael Buckland's
home-page.
Revised July 17, 1997.