Another Word For It Patrick Durusau on Topic Maps and Semantic Diversity

April 9, 2010

TFM (To Find Me) Scoring

Filed under: LCSH,Subject Headings,Subject Identifiers,Subject Identity — Patrick Durusau @ 8:34 pm

The TFM (To Find Me) score for a topic map or other information resource depends upon the subject being identified.

Here is a portion of a record from the Library of Congress:

LC Control No.: 2001376890
Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.)
Main Title: Medieval Slavic manuscripts and SGML : problems and
perspectives = Srednovekovni slavi·a·nski rukopisi i
SGML / [Anisava Miltenova, David Birnbaum, editors].
Parallel Title: Srednovekovni slavi·a·nski rukopisi i SGML
Published/Created: Sofii·a· : A.I. “Prof. Marin Drinov”, 2000.
Related Names: Miltenova, Anisava
Birnbaum, David J.
Description: 371 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 9544307400
Subjects: ***omitted, will cover in another post***
LC Classification: Z115.5.C57 M43 2000
Language Code: eng bul
Other System No.: (OCoLC)ocm45819499
CALL NUMBER: Z115.5.C57 M43 2000

How many ways can you find this book?

  1. Main title: Medieval Slavic manuscripts and SGML : problems and perspectives
  2. Parallel Title: Srednovekovni slavi·a·nski rukopisi i SGML
  3. ISBN: 9544307400
  4. Other System No.: (OCoLC)ocm45819499

TFM score of 4. Four ways to find this book.

But, why the following weren’t included?

  1. LC Control No.: 2001376890
  2. CALL NUMBER: Z115.5.C57 M43 2000

Which would have made the TFM score 6.

Depends on what subject you think is being identified.

If the subject is this book, as a publication, the TFM score remains at 4.

If the subject is a particular copy of this book, held by the Library of Congress, the TFM score goes to 6.

April 8, 2010

TFM (To Find Me) Mark Twain

Filed under: LCSH,Subject Identity,Topic Maps — Patrick Durusau @ 6:29 pm

My TFM (To Find Me) project for today is the Library of Congress catalog and the subject is “Mark Twain.” I started at: http://catalog.loc.gov, selected “Author Keyword,” and entered “Mark Twain.” Putting in the exact string is a TFM score of 1 but I had to start somewhere.

Results? 36 results in total: 6 personal names, 7 meeting names, and 23 corporate names. Since I am interested in the subject, the author “Mark Twain,” let’s look a bit closer at the returns. The returns include the number of “titles” for each listing, thus the first one is 1 title by “David, Mark Twain.”

  • 1 David, Mark Twain
  • 1 Nadir, Mark Twain, 1913-
  • 17 Twain, Mark.
  • 1438 Twain, Mark, 1835-1910
  • 1 Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 (Spirit)
  • Twain, Mark Mrs., 1845-1904

The fourth entry, “1438 Twain, Mark, 1835-1910” has a more info logo and if we follow that we find: “see also: Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 1835-1910.” If we follow that, we get:

  • 9 Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 1835-1910

There is a more info link with a pointer to “Twain, Mark, 1835-1910” at this result.

As it stands now, we have a TFM score of 2 on the subject of Mark Twain (Exact string, Mark Twain and Clemens, Samuel Langhorne). I am curious about the entry with 1438 titles since I am sure that Twain’s literary output was less than that number. Note that “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” does not appear in the listing of the works by Twain in the third line item. Clearly something is amiss.

April 7, 2010

How Can I Find Thee? Let me count the ways…

Filed under: Subject Identity,Topic Maps — Patrick Durusau @ 7:12 pm

The number of ways users can find information has a direct impact on how many of them will actually find the information they need. I haven’t found any literature that suggests having fewer ways to find information improves retrieval. If you know of any, please post a link or reference to it.

The research on the higher number of ways to find information resulting in more users finding it has been around since the early 80’s, so say almost 30 years. I am curious how many information systems have taken those lessons to heart?

It won’t be a big part of any of my blogs for the next week or so but let me propose that you and I do an informal survey of information systems. Could be anything, a local website, the local library catalog, perhaps a government agency site, etc.

Pick some subject, one that interests you, then find that subject in an information system Now, for the fun part. How many other ways can you find that information? Could include other words for it, other ways to access the same information, etc. Write each one down and then post to one of my blog posts that mention it, a link (if you like), the subject and the To Find Me, TFM score for that subject.

TFM is incremented by one for every way to find a subject in a particular information resource. At my website, you can find information on “topic maps,” and the same thing as “ISO 13250,” so the TFM score would be 2.

I will pick a subject as well and will post a short note every day about my experience on finding that subject and then trying to find other ways to find that subject. Happy hunting!

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