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Writing Abstracts: Guidelines for Metadata Development



Introduction

This paper provides an overview of the purpose and uses of an abstract; and the guidelines and processes which are helpful in creating abstracts.
An abstract is an abbreviated representation or surrogate of a data or information resource. It contains a concise and significant summary of the resource, and is generally intended to serve as a stand-alone description. Coupled with pertinent biblio graphic information such as title, it provides users with supportive information for evaluation of a data or information resource. An abstract with its accompanying citation is a metadata record-- a work of scholarship in its own right which can be index ed, organized, accessed and used as an information resource for research purposes.

Purposes and Uses of an Abstract

Traditional Uses

The 'traditional' purposes and uses of abstracts, either alone or aggregated within an abstract journal or online directory, have changed very little over the centuries that abstracts have been used. The purposes focus on the ability to assemble, acces s, and evaluate relevant materials more easily and efficiently, using summaries of source items instead of the original items themselves.

Some specific uses include:

Thus, abstracts have evolved to serve two additional purposes:

However, associated with these newer uses of abstracts, difficulties have arisen. As more systems support free-text and other searching techniques, and as distributed systems become interoperable, it becomes increasingly difficult for metadata creators to anticipate what search mechanisms will be used. For example, CIESIN's Gateway provides both controlled vocabulary searching and free-text search capabilities, and provides additional access to directory entries through a World Wide Web server, whic h supports full text searching and browsing capabilities. This example highlights the challenges in creating metadata which will maximize retrieval using diverse search systems. Since all or part of directory entry text may be used in the search process , metadata writers have an increased responsibility to create quality content, and directory developers must work to insure that the content and the access mechanisms work together to enhance retrieval. To help create this metadata text, it seems appropr iate to review the 'traditional' guidelines and processes for writing quality abstracts.

Abstracting Guidelines

The basic principle to keep in mind while writing an abstract, is that the abstract may be the only text that users search and consult, if they choose not to retrieve the original data or information. Remembering this may help the abstractor focus on t he key elements and select terminology to be included. Types of abstracts There are two primary types of abstracts and selection of the appropriate type is dependent upon the nature of the material being described, and the intended use of the abstract. The indicative abstract contains generalized statements to convey (indicate) to the user what the described item is about. It is very brief, and does not contain specific findings. Its purpose is to acquaint users with the subject content of the resour ce and to help them decide whether or not to consult the original source. The informative abstract is generally longer and contains more complete and precise information about the resource, such as scope, objectives, and purpose of the work, methodolo gies used, key quantitative data, and any conclusions and recommendations. Its purpose is to serve as a true substitute for or surrogate of the resource.

Regardless of the type, an abstract should be:

Abstractors

Data owners, principal investigators, and original authors are often excellent sources of quality abstracts. These individuals have subject expertise and knowledge of the data and information to be described. However, they may not have the objectivity of someone who is less familiar with the data, and may introduce biases or emphases which can hinder retrieval by users in other subject areas.

Professional abstractors, who are trained and experienced in writing objective abstracts.

However, these individuals may not have the required subject expertise or a working knowledge of the data and information. While a single individual may not necessarily possess all of the requisite skills and knowledge, quality abstracts can be and are being generated through cooperative interaction among subject specialists, abstractors, principal investigators, data owners, and others. The key is to develop and maintain direct contact or consultation between these individuals.

Other contributors

Other individuals can be excellent information sources while writing abstracts. For example, users of data may publish articles about the data, the methodologies used to collect the data, evaluations of the data quality, etc.
Users of directory access systems can be excellent information sources for creating and refining abstracts. Examining system use statistics, such as search query successes and failures, and tracking user feedback comments will help to create abstracts which are more effective in terms of retrieval.

The Abstracting Process

There are several steps involved in the process of writing an abstract of a data or information resource.
These are:

Content Creation

When translating concepts and characteristics present in the data into an appropriate textual description, one must make decisions about including and excluding specific information. While not intended as an exhaustive list, these elements should be considered for inclusion in an abstract:

Knowing what to exclude from an abstract is equally important as knowing what to include. Some examples of information to exclude are:


This is a useful summary of basic abstracting processes and principles which are applicable regardless of the source or format of the data or information.

Summary

Abstracts are stand-alone surrogates or representations of data or information resources. Users may rely on abstracts as primary sources of information, or they may use them as a step in the evaluation and access of source data and information. Applyin g traditional guidelines and processes for abstract creation within a directory entry, will improve its retrieval performance, particularly in free-text search systems. These guidelines discourage use of an abstract as a 'dumping ground' for information which does not fit elsewhere in a directory record. Additional enhancements include use of consistent terminology, and organization and presentation of information into logical consistent categories. Applied throughout a directory or across cooperating directories, these enhancements will help users retrieve metadata.


References

American National Standards Institute (ANSI). 1979. American National Standard for Writing Abstracts (Tech. Rep. No. Z39.14-1979). New York: ANSI.

Bhatia, Martha T. and Cheryl J. Burley. 1992 (unpublished). "Expanding The Directory Interchange Format To Accommodate Human Science Metadata." University Center, MI: Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).

Burley, Cheryl J. 1993. "Creating Metadata Abstracts: Purpose, Guidelines and Processes." Paper presented at the Catalog Interoperability/NASA Science Internet Workshop, April 27-29, 1993, San Diego, CA. University Center, Mich.: Consortium for Inte rnational Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).

Cleveland, Donald B. and Ana D. Cleveland. 1983. Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

Collison, Robert L. 1971. Abstracts and Abstracting Services. Santa Barbara, CA: American Bibliographic Center- Clio Press.

The Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR. 1988. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules- 2nd edition, 1988 revision . Gorman and Winkler, eds. Ottawa: CLA, London: LA, Chicago: ALA.

National Space Science Data Center. 1991. Directory Interchange Format Manual, Version 4.0. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Pao, Miranda Lee. 1989. Concepts of Information Retrieval. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

Thomas, Sarah E. 1990. Bibliographic Control and Agriculture. Library Trends 38(3)542-561.

Tibbo, Helen R. 1992. Abstracting Across the Disciplines: A Content Analysis of Abstracts from the Natural Sciences, and the Humanities with Implications for Abstracting Standards and Online Information Retrieval . Library and Information Science Research 14(1):31-56.


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