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Before starting to trace the development of PRECIS to its theoretical beginnings I shall describe the system briefly in its present form. This will serve not only as an introduction for those who are not familiar with the system, but will also help to explain the relevance of some of the historical sections which follow, in which we shall see how a machine‐produced alphabetical indexing system, based on a syntax derived from a study of natural language, developed out of research into principles for a new general classification.

In the money under review the meetings of the Group have been lively and well attended, with over twenty members present at many meetings. The following visitors and overseas members were welcomed at Group meetings:

A previous study of notation in classification appeared in this journal in 1952 (ref. 1). I there considered what functions notational symbols actually serve in existing systems of classification, and how the structure of the symbols is related to the functions served. I showed that a classification symbol serves three purposes: (a) to represent a term, (b) to locate it among a mass of other terms, and (c) to indicate relations between the terms symbolized. The first two purposes can be readily fulfilled by using any symbols which can be arranged in a unique linear order. It is the need to indicate relations between terms which has created the complex structure of modern classification symbols.

The construction industry has particular problems in its handling of general and project documentation, arising largely from the separation of the design and construction functions, and the large number of firms involved. The Department of the Environment has issued a report proposing improvements in the total information system which suggests that classification is the key factor in any programme of work. In this paper a general account is given of the problems, the work of the DoE, the existing schemes; and proposals are put forward for the compilation of a ‘metasystem’ which would be used to control or steer the conventions used for information handling.

This paper documents the continuing relevance of facet analysis as a technique for searching and organising World Wide Web based materials. The two approaches underlying WWW searching and indexing – word and concept based indexing – are outlined. It is argued that facet analysis as an a posteori approach to classification using words from the subject field as the concept terms in the classification derived represents an excellent approach to searching and organising the results of WWW searches using either search engines or search directories. Finally, it is argued that the underlying philosophy of facet analysis is better suited to the disparate nature of WWW resources and searchers than the assumptions of contemporary IR research.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the development of ontology for the heroes of the ancient Greek mythology and religion. At present, a number of ontologies exist in different domains. However, ontologies of epics and myths are comparatively very few. To be more specific, nobody has developed such ontology for Greek mythology. This paper describes the attempts at developing ontology for Greek mythology to fill this gap.

This paper follows a combination of different methodologies, which is assumed to be a more effective way of developing ontology for mythology. It has adopted motivating scenario concept from Gruninger and Fox, developing cycle from Methontology and the analytico–synthetic approach from yet another methodology for ontology, and hence, it is a combination of three existing approaches.

A merged methodology has been adopted for this paper. The developed ontology was evaluated and made to meet with the information needs of its users. On the basis of the study, it was found that Greek mythology ontology could answer 62 per cent of the questions after first evaluation, i.e. 76 out of the 123 questions. The unanswered questions were analyzed in detail for further development of the ontology. The missing concepts were fed into the ontology; the ontology obtained after this stage was an exhaustive one.

This ontology will grow with time and can be used in semantic applications or e-learning modules related to the domain of Greek mythology.

This work is the first attempt to build ontology for Greek mythology. The approach is unique in that it has attempted to trace out the individual characteristics as well as the relationship between the characters described in the work.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework, based on contemporary philosophical aesthetics, from which principled assessments of the aesthetic value of information organization frameworks may be conducted.

This paper identifies appropriate discourses within the field of philosophical aesthetics, constructs from them a framework for assessing aesthetic properties of information organization frameworks. This framework is then applied in two case studies examining the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), and Sexual Nomenclature: A Thesaurus.

In both information organization frameworks studied, the aesthetic analysis was useful in identifying judgments of the frameworks as aesthetic judgments, in promoting discovery of further areas of aesthetic judgments, and in prompting reflection on the nature of these aesthetic judgments.

This study provides proof-of-concept for the aesthetic evaluation of information organization frameworks. Areas of future research are identified as the role of cultural relativism in such aesthetic evaluation and identification of appropriate aesthetic properties of information organization frameworks.

By identifying a subset of judgments of information organization frameworks as aesthetic judgments, aesthetic evaluation of such frameworks can be made explicit and principled. Aesthetic judgments can be separated from questions of economic feasibility, functional requirements, and user-orientation. Design and maintenance of information organization frameworks can be based on these principles.

This study introduces a new evaluative axis for information organization frameworks based on philosophical aesthetics. By improving the evaluation of such novel frameworks, design and maintenance can be guided by these principles.