Computer-assisted production of bibliographic databases in history
Joyce Duncan Falk · The Indexer · 1981
Director, American Bibliographical Center and executive editor of Historical abstracts A computerized text processing system is used to produce printed and online versions of the bibliographic databases in history, Historical ab stracts (HA) and America: history and life (AHL). Abstracts or citations of books, articles, and dissertations are edited, subject-classified, and sub ject- and author-indexed. The American Bibliographical Center's Subject Profile Index (SPIndex) is a computer-assisted, rotated string index; the vocabulary is a combination of natural language key words and preferred subject headings selected by editor-indexers. The processing system comprises keyboarding, ex traction of index terms, expansion of abbreviated index terms to full text, file correction, sorting, and photocomposition of pages. Files of bibliographic entries are sorted for use in one or more databases, and annual index files are merged to produce cumulative indexes.