The Organization of Information (Library and Information Science Text Series) [Paperback]

Arlene G. Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2003 | ISBN-10: 1563089696 | ISBN-13: 978-1563089695 | Edition: 2

The extensively revised and completely updated second edition of this popular textbook provides LIS practitioners and students with a vital guide to the organization of information. After a broad overview of the concept and its role in human endeavors, Taylor proceeds to a detailed and insightful discussion of such basic retrieval tools as bibliographies, catalogs, indexes, finding aids, registers, databases, major bibliographic utilities, and other organizing entities. After tracing the development of the organization of recorded information in Western civilization from 2000 B.C.E. to the present, the author addresses topics that include encoding standards (MARC, SGML, and various DTDs), metadata (description, access, and access control), verbal subject analysis including controlled vocabularies and ontologies, classification theory and methodology, arrangement and display, and system design.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Like its previous edition, this second edition examines many of the tools, standards, theories, and principles underlying the organization of information in different types of environments. Chapters are devoted to the organization and development of recorded information, retrieval tools, encoding standards, subject analysis, systems for vocabulary control and categorization, and arrangement and display. This edition offers readers a new chapter on metadata and new sections treating digital libraries, information architecture, knowledge management, pathfinders, search engines, and bibliographic classifications and taxonomies, among other topics. Chapters have been updated, and many have been revised and expanded. The chapter about systems and system designs is a prime example, having been rewritten to reflect changes within the field and now featured more prominently in the book. These changes yield an extremely well-designed, structured, and articulated work, noteworthy for its clarity and usability. A fine contribution to the field of library and information science. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

?Arlene Taylor....is eminently qualified to write about the organization of information....The book is a highly recommended purchase for all institutions that teach library organizational skills and for others who wish to explore a broadly based view of the organization of information or to keep abreast of the latest developments in technical services.?-Technicalities

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited; 2 edition (November 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563089696
• ISBN-13: 978-1563089695
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #773,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Plain English (not jargon), July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Organization of Information: (Paperback)

Want to know what your computer people are babbling on about when they use phrases like "GILS" or "Dublin Core?" Tired of hearing explanations of TEI and metadata that only leave you more confused than when you started? This is the book for you. Yes, there's more to the book than this, but Chapters 4 and 5 (that's all the further I've gotten today--but I just had to write now) are worth the price of admission. Thank you, Ms. Taylor, for finally putting these concepts I've been hearing for the last 2 years into a framework that I can actually understand! My boss is now running across the hall to my office every time she hears me say "Oh, I get it!" so I can explain whatever my newest understanding is to her, too.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid introductory textbook, August 22, 2006

By 

Tribippy "tribippy" (South Euclid, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Organization of Information (Library and Information Science Text Series) (Paperback)

I used this textbook for a core cataloging course for my LIS degree. It provides a good foundation for different information systems. The author includes important discussion of Web technologies, like XML, and how they are used in conjunction with traditional library encoding systems like MARC. It includes sections on systems design that are not deep, but appropriate given the introductory nature of this book. Unlike some other reviewers, I had no trouble with acronyms, and other definitions: the book has a thorough index, in addition to a glossary.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent textbook!, September 21, 2005

By 

Sarah A. Buck "Sarah Buck Kachaluba" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Organization of Information (Library and Information Science Text Series) (Paperback)

This is an excellent textbook. It is well organized and clearly written, explaining difficult concepts in understandable language for students. It covers the history of information organization in libraries, archives, and museums, as well as tools such as inventories, bibliographies, catalogs and indexes, and methods and standards of codification; reviews the history and development of the internet; describes different kinds of databases; and discusses metadata as a theoretical and practical concept, reviewing different kinds of metadata schemes. I highly recommend it.