Male Homosexuality in Brazilian Indexing Languages: Some Ethical Questions

Studies on ethics in information organization have deeply contributed to the recognition of the social dimension of Information Science. The subject approach to information is linked to an ethical dimension because one of its major concerns is related to its reliability and usefulness in a specific discursive community or knowledge domain. In this direction, we propose, through an exploratory research design with qualitative and inductive characteristics, to identify the specific terminology that Brazilian indexing languages allow for terms relating to male homosexuality. We also analyzed the terms assigned to papers published in the Journal of Homosexuality, Sexualities and Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health between the years 2005 to 2009. From this analysis of terms and the Brazilian indexing languages, we see (1) the Brazilian context, (2) imprecision in the terminology, (3) indications of prejudices disseminated by political correctness, (4) biased representation of the subject matter, (5) and the presence of figures of speech.

Bias in the indexing languages Theorethical approaches about feminine issues

The process of knowledge representation as well as its procedures or tools and its products are not neutral in terms of values; instead they imply moral values. In this context, bias in representation related to prejudice and discrimination, to gender issues, to dicotomic categorization in classification systems or in thesauri and to lack of cultural warrant may arise. Concerning the problem of bias in indexing languages, starting from the initial theoretical reflexions of Brey (1999), Berman (1993), Olson (1998; 2002), Lopez-Huertas Perez & Torres Ramirez (2005), Guimaraes (2006), Hjorland (2008) and Milani et al. (2009), the proposal is to present a preliminary categorization aiming at facilitating the identification of bias concerning feminine issues in indexing languages, to offer a contribution to the theoretical universe of the specific questions of knowledge organization and to present a theme to be discussed by educators and professionals in the areas of cataloging, classification and indexing. If in a society which intends to be politically correct, social attitudes towards stigmatized citizens should be modified, then, the universe of indexing languages, taken as tools of knowledge representation, is a fertile field to sow this reflexion.

Term Morphologies as Meaningful Typology Characteristics for Indexing Languages

Every indexing language is made up of terms. Those terms have morphological characteristics. These include terms made up of single words, two words, or more. We can also take into account the total number of terms.We can assemble these measures, normalize them, and then cluster indexing languages based on this common set of measures [1].Cluster analysis reviews discrete groups based on term morphology that comport with traditional design assumptions that separate ontologies, from thesauri, and folksonomies.

Diachronic and Synchronic Indexing: Modeling Conceptual Change in Indexing Languages

This paper outlines a model of conceptual change in indexing languages. Findings from this modeling effort point to three ways meaning and relationships are established and then change in an indexing language. These ways: structural, terminological, and textual point to ways indexing language metadata can aid in managing conceptual change in indexing languages.

Evidence of Term-Structure Differences among Folksonomies and Controlled Indexing Languages

With the advent of Internet-based technologies for information organization, many groups have constructed their own indexing languages. Biologists, Library and Information Science practitioners, and now social taggers have worked together to create large and many times complex indexing languages. In this environment of diversity, two questions surface: (1) what are the measurable characteristics of these indexing languages, and (2) do measurements of these indexing languages speciate along these characteristics? This poster presents data from this exploratory work.

Collocative Integrity and Our Many Varied Subjects: What the Metric of Alignment between Classification Scheme and Indexer Tells Us About Langridge’s Theory of Indexing

As the universe of knowledge and subjects change over time, indexing languages like classification schemes, accommodate that change by restructuring. Restructuring indexing languages affects indexer and cataloguer work. Subjects may split or lump together. They may disappear only to reappear later. And new subjects may emerge that were assumed to be already present, but not clearly articulated (Miksa, 1998). In this context we have the complex relationship between the indexing language, the text being described, and the already described collection (Tennis, 2007). It is possible to imagine indexers placing a document into an outdated class, because it is the one they have already used for their collection. However, doing this erases the semantics in the present indexing language. Given this range of choice in the context of indexing language change, the question arises, what does this look like in practice? How often does this occur? Further, what does this phenomenon tell us about subjects in indexing languages? Does the practice we observe in the reaction to indexing language change provide us evidence of conceptual models of subjects and subject creation? If it is incomplete, but gets us close, what evidence do we still require?

O uso de linguagem documentária em catálogos coletivos de bibliotecas universitárias: um estudo de avaliação sociocognitiva com protocolo verbal

Avaliou-se o uso de linguagem documentária alfabética de catálogos coletivos, na perspectiva das bibliotecas universitárias e no contexto sociocognitivo dos indexadores e dos usuários. Concluiu-se que o uso adequado de linguagens documentárias de áreas científicas especializadas faz-se por meio da avaliação quanto à atualização, especificidade e compatibilidade para atender às necessidades de indexação e recuperação da informação.

Knowledge Representation and Orthophemism: A Reflection Aiming to a Concept

Characteristics of speech, especially figures of speech, are used by specific communities or domains, and, in this way, reflect their identities through their choice of vocabulary. This topic should be an object of study in the context of knowledge representation once it deals with different contexts of production of documents. This study aims to explore the dimensions of the concepts of euphemism, dysphemism, and orthophemism, focusing on the latter with the goal of extracting a concept which can be included in discussions about subject analysis and indexing. Euphemism is used as an alternative to a non-preferred expression or as an alternative to an offensive attribution-to avoid potential offense taken by the listener or by other persons, for instance, pass away. Dysphemism, on the other hand, is used by speakers to talk about people and things that frustrate and annoy them-their choice of language indicates disapproval and the topic is therefore denigrated, humiliated, or degraded, for instance, kick the bucket. While euphemism tries to make something sound better, dysphemism tries to make something sound worse. Orthophemism (Allan and Burridge 2006) is also used as an alternative to expressions, but it is a preferred, formal, and direct language of expression when representing an object or a situation, for instance, die. This paper suggests that the comprehension and use of such concepts could support the following issues: possible contributions from linguistics and terminology to subject analysis as demonstrated by Talamo et al. (1992); decrease of polysemy and ambiguity of terms used to represent certain topics of documents; and construction and evaluation of indexing languages. The concept of orthophemism can also serves to support associative relationships in the context of subject analysis, indexing, and even information retrieval related to more specific requests.

Avaliação comparada do uso de linguagens de indexação em catálogos de bibliotecas universitárias para recuperação por assunto

A comparative evaluation was made of the use of natural language versus two specialized indexing languages, aiming to demonstrate the influence of the availability of indexing languages on the functioning of information retrieval systems. The study was conducted within the ambit of the construction of search strategies by subject in online university library catalogs. The precision ratio was calculated to determine the accuracy of each indexing language in subjectbased information retrieval. From the comparative evaluation of the use of indexing languages, it was concluded that the term specificity required by the user during retrieval was more satisfactory when the query was made through controlled languages, whose availability and simplicity is also an indispensable requisite.

Relações conceituais como ponto de inflexão entre linguagens documentais, terminologia e ontologias

A reflection is offered on the complementary relations among documentary languages, terminology, and ontologies, in regard to the study of conceptual relations used to organize knowledge. Building on selected texts from the international literature, the relations between documentary languages and different emerging technology solutions are analyzed, taking SKOS as a model; and also the relations among thesauri, ontologies and terminology, with the support of the theoretical concept of documentary representation. The adoption of the principles of terminology, as understood in Information Science, in building ontologies is supported; and the innovative opportunities offered by ontologies to the improvement and processing of conceptual relations in indexing languages is defended.

Estudos éticos em representação do conhecimento: uma análise da questão feminina em linguagens documentais brasileiras

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Modelos de comportamento de busca de informação: contribuições para a organização da informação

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Avaliação do uso de linguagem documentária em catálogos coletivos de bibliotecas universitárias: um estudo sociocognitivo com protocolo verbal

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação - FFC

Aspectos éticos em representação do conhecimento em temáticas relativas à homossexualidade masculina: uma análise da precisão em linguagens de indexação brasileiras

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A representação documentária do domínio da Economia: análise de estruturas de representação em linguagens documentárias e documentos específicos de economia

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação - FFC