Document (#28649)

Author

Wilson, P.

Title

Subjects and the sense of position

Source

Theory of subject analysis: a sourcebook. Ed.: L.M. Chan, et al

Imprint

Littleton, CO : Libraries Unlimited

Year

1985

Pages

S.306-325

Abstract

One knows one is in the presence of "theory" when fundamental questions of a "why" nature are asked. Too often it happens that those involved in the design of bibliographic information systems have no time for brooding. It is thus noteworthy when someone appears an the bibliographic scene who troubles to address, and pursue with philosophic rigor, fundamental questions about the way we organize information. Such a person is Patrick Wilson, formerly philosophy professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and since 1965, an the faculty of the School of Library and Information Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Bibliographic control is the central concept of Wilson's book Two Kinds of Power. It is represented as a kind of power-a power over knowledge. That power is of two kinds: descriptive and exploitive. Descriptive power is the power to retrieve all writings that satisfy some "evaluatively neutral" description, for instance, all writings by Hobbes or all writings an the subject of eternat recurrence. Descriptive power is achieved insofar as the items in our bibliographic universe are fitted with descriptions and these descriptions are syndetically related. Exploitive power is a less-familiar concept, but it is more important since it can be used to explain why we attempt to order our bibliographic universe in the first place. Exploitive power is the power to obtain the best textual means to an end. Unlike the concept of descriptive power, that of exploitive power has a normative aspect to it. Someone possessing such power would understand the goal of all bibliographic activity; that is, he would understand the diversity of user purposes and the relativity of what is valuable; he would be omniscient both as a bibliographer and as a psychologist. Since exploitive power is ever out of reach, descriptive power is used as a substitute or approximation for it. How adequate this approximation is is the subject of Wilson's book. The particular chapter excerpted in this volume deals with the adequacy of subject access methods. Cutter's statement that one of the objects of a library catalog is to show what the library has an a given subject is generally accepted, as though it were obvious what "being an a given subject" means. It is far from obvious. Wilson challenges the underlying presumption that for any document a heading can be found that is coextensive with its subject. This presumption implies that there is such a thing as the (singular) subject of a document and that it can be identified. But, as Wilson Shows in his elaborate explication, the notion of "subject" is essentially indeterminate, with the consequence that we are limited in our attempts to achieve either descriptive or exploitive power.

Footnote

Nachdruck des Originalartikels mit Kommentierung durch die Herausgeber
Original in: Wilson, P.: Two kinds of power: an essay on bibliograpical control. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press 1968. S.69-92.

Theme

Inhaltsanalyse

Similar documents (author)

1. Wilson, M.J.; Wilson, M.L.: ¬A comparison of techniques for measuring sensemaking and learning within participant-generated summaries (2013) 4.97

   4.9733987 = sum of:
     4.9733987 = weight(author_txt:wilson in 612) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
       4.9733987 = fieldWeight in 612, product of:
         1.4142135 = tf(freq=2.0), with freq of:
           2.0 = termFreq=2.0
         7.033448 = idf(docFreq=105, maxDocs=44218)
         0.5 = fieldNorm(doc=612)
   

2. Wilson, P.: Some fundamental concepts in information retrieval (1978) 4.40

   4.395905 = sum of:
     4.395905 = weight(author_txt:wilson in 840) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
       4.395905 = fieldWeight in 840, product of:
         1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
           1.0 = termFreq=1.0
         7.033448 = idf(docFreq=105, maxDocs=44218)
         0.625 = fieldNorm(doc=840)
   

3. Wilson, P.: Situational relevance (1971) 4.40

   4.395905 = sum of:
     4.395905 = weight(author_txt:wilson in 841) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
       4.395905 = fieldWeight in 841, product of:
         1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
           1.0 = termFreq=1.0
         7.033448 = idf(docFreq=105, maxDocs=44218)
         0.625 = fieldNorm(doc=841)
   

4. Wilson, T.D.: ¬An introduction to chain indexing (1971) 4.40

   4.395905 = sum of:
     4.395905 = weight(author_txt:wilson in 1336) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
       4.395905 = fieldWeight in 1336, product of:
         1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
           1.0 = termFreq=1.0
         7.033448 = idf(docFreq=105, maxDocs=44218)
         0.625 = fieldNorm(doc=1336)
   

5. Wilson, A.: ¬The hierarchy of belief : ideological tendentiousness in universal classification (1992) 4.40

   4.395905 = sum of:
     4.395905 = weight(author_txt:wilson in 2118) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
       4.395905 = fieldWeight in 2118, product of:
         1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
           1.0 = termFreq=1.0
         7.033448 = idf(docFreq=105, maxDocs=44218)
         0.625 = fieldNorm(doc=2118)
   

Similar documents (content)

1. Savolainen, R.: Cognitive authority as an instance of informational and expert power (2022) 0.17

   0.17244737 = sum of:
     0.17244737 = product of:
       0.86223686 = sum of:
         0.0143442415 = weight(abstract_txt:such in 5304) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.0143442415 = score(doc=5304,freq=2.0), product of:
             0.047374718 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.0375216 = boost
               3.4255946 = idf(docFreq=3909, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.30278262 = fieldWeight in 5304, product of:
               1.4142135 = tf(freq=2.0), with freq of:
                 2.0 = termFreq=2.0
               3.4255946 = idf(docFreq=3909, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5304)
         0.11713988 = weight(abstract_txt:wilson's in 5304) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.11713988 = score(doc=5304,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.2114516 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.7897143 = boost
               8.863674 = idf(docFreq=16, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.55397964 = fieldWeight in 5304, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               8.863674 = idf(docFreq=16, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5304)
         0.012307862 = weight(abstract_txt:that in 5304) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.012307862 = score(doc=5304,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.08310945 = queryWeight, product of:
               2.6313872 = boost
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.1480922 = fieldWeight in 5304, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5304)
         0.040129144 = weight(abstract_txt:subject in 5304) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.040129144 = score(doc=5304,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.16433664 = queryWeight, product of:
               3.1555524 = boost
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.24418867 = fieldWeight in 5304, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5304)
         0.67831576 = weight(abstract_txt:power in 5304) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.67831576 = score(doc=5304,freq=7.0), product of:
             0.71289635 = queryWeight, product of:
               9.294722 = boost
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.95149285 = fieldWeight in 5304, product of:
               2.6457512 = tf(freq=7.0), with freq of:
                 7.0 = termFreq=7.0
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5304)
       0.2 = coord(5/25)
   

2. Savolainen, R.: Manifestations of expert power in gatekeeping : a conceptual study (2020) 0.15

   0.15420026 = sum of:
     0.15420026 = product of:
       0.9637516 = sum of:
         0.006568778 = weight(abstract_txt:with in 5981) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.006568778 = score(doc=5981,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.042044662 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.2618381 = boost
               2.4997334 = idf(docFreq=9868, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.15623334 = fieldWeight in 5981, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               2.4997334 = idf(docFreq=9868, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5981)
         0.012307862 = weight(abstract_txt:that in 5981) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.012307862 = score(doc=5981,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.08310945 = queryWeight, product of:
               2.6313872 = boost
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.1480922 = fieldWeight in 5981, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5981)
         0.05675118 = weight(abstract_txt:subject in 5981) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.05675118 = score(doc=5981,freq=2.0), product of:
             0.16433664 = queryWeight, product of:
               3.1555524 = boost
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.34533492 = fieldWeight in 5981, product of:
               1.4142135 = tf(freq=2.0), with freq of:
                 2.0 = termFreq=2.0
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5981)
         0.8881238 = weight(abstract_txt:power in 5981) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.8881238 = score(doc=5981,freq=12.0), product of:
             0.71289635 = queryWeight, product of:
               9.294722 = boost
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             1.2457966 = fieldWeight in 5981, product of:
               3.4641016 = tf(freq=12.0), with freq of:
                 12.0 = termFreq=12.0
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0625 = fieldNorm(doc=5981)
       0.16 = coord(4/25)
   

3. Miksa, S.D.: Educators: what are the cataloging issues students get excited about? : professional and intellectual appeals of cataloging and students' misconceptions of cataloging (2008) 0.15

   0.15293708 = sum of:
     0.15293708 = product of:
       0.63723785 = sum of:
         0.015214367 = weight(abstract_txt:such in 786) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.015214367 = score(doc=786,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.047374718 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.0375216 = boost
               3.4255946 = idf(docFreq=3909, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.3211495 = fieldWeight in 786, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               3.4255946 = idf(docFreq=3909, maxDocs=44218)
               0.09375 = fieldNorm(doc=786)
         0.0098531665 = weight(abstract_txt:with in 786) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.0098531665 = score(doc=786,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.042044662 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.2618381 = boost
               2.4997334 = idf(docFreq=9868, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.23435001 = fieldWeight in 786, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               2.4997334 = idf(docFreq=9868, maxDocs=44218)
               0.09375 = fieldNorm(doc=786)
         0.018461792 = weight(abstract_txt:that in 786) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.018461792 = score(doc=786,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.08310945 = queryWeight, product of:
               2.6313872 = boost
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.22213829 = fieldWeight in 786, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.09375 = fieldNorm(doc=786)
         0.060193717 = weight(abstract_txt:subject in 786) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.060193717 = score(doc=786,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.16433664 = queryWeight, product of:
               3.1555524 = boost
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.366283 = fieldWeight in 786, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.09375 = fieldNorm(doc=786)
         0.1489459 = weight(abstract_txt:descriptive in 786) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.1489459 = score(doc=786,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.27315328 = queryWeight, product of:
               3.5232384 = boost
               5.8163543 = idf(docFreq=357, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.5452832 = fieldWeight in 786, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               5.8163543 = idf(docFreq=357, maxDocs=44218)
               0.09375 = fieldNorm(doc=786)
         0.3845689 = weight(abstract_txt:power in 786) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.3845689 = score(doc=786,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.71289635 = queryWeight, product of:
               9.294722 = boost
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.53944576 = fieldWeight in 786, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.09375 = fieldNorm(doc=786)
       0.24 = coord(6/25)
   

4. Egghe, L.: Zipfian and Lotkaian continuous concentration theory (2005) 0.14

   0.14477554 = sum of:
     0.14477554 = product of:
       0.72387767 = sum of:
         0.012678639 = weight(abstract_txt:such in 3678) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.012678639 = score(doc=3678,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.047374718 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.0375216 = boost
               3.4255946 = idf(docFreq=3909, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.2676246 = fieldWeight in 3678, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               3.4255946 = idf(docFreq=3909, maxDocs=44218)
               0.078125 = fieldNorm(doc=3678)
         0.011612069 = weight(abstract_txt:with in 3678) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.011612069 = score(doc=3678,freq=2.0), product of:
             0.042044662 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.2618381 = boost
               2.4997334 = idf(docFreq=9868, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.27618414 = fieldWeight in 3678, product of:
               1.4142135 = tf(freq=2.0), with freq of:
                 2.0 = termFreq=2.0
               2.4997334 = idf(docFreq=9868, maxDocs=44218)
               0.078125 = fieldNorm(doc=3678)
         0.036881343 = weight(abstract_txt:since in 3678) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.036881343 = score(doc=3678,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.096538976 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.4810686 = boost
               4.890058 = idf(docFreq=903, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.3820358 = fieldWeight in 3678, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               4.890058 = idf(docFreq=903, maxDocs=44218)
               0.078125 = fieldNorm(doc=3678)
         0.02175743 = weight(abstract_txt:that in 3678) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.02175743 = score(doc=3678,freq=2.0), product of:
             0.08310945 = queryWeight, product of:
               2.6313872 = boost
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.26179248 = fieldWeight in 3678, product of:
               1.4142135 = tf(freq=2.0), with freq of:
                 2.0 = termFreq=2.0
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.078125 = fieldNorm(doc=3678)
         0.6409482 = weight(abstract_txt:power in 3678) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.6409482 = score(doc=3678,freq=4.0), product of:
             0.71289635 = queryWeight, product of:
               9.294722 = boost
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.8990762 = fieldWeight in 3678, product of:
               2.0 = tf(freq=4.0), with freq of:
                 4.0 = termFreq=4.0
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.078125 = fieldNorm(doc=3678)
       0.2 = coord(5/25)
   

5. Munk, T.B.; Mork, K.: Folksonomy, the power law & the significance of the least effort (2007) 0.14

   0.13623552 = sum of:
     0.13623552 = product of:
       0.6811776 = sum of:
         0.02019201 = weight(abstract_txt:concept in 663) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.02019201 = score(doc=663,freq=1.0), product of:
             0.08195068 = queryWeight, product of:
               1.3645835 = boost
               4.505458 = idf(docFreq=1327, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.24639222 = fieldWeight in 663, product of:
               1.0 = tf(freq=1.0), with freq of:
                 1.0 = termFreq=1.0
               4.505458 = idf(docFreq=1327, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0546875 = fieldNorm(doc=663)
         0.028493095 = weight(abstract_txt:that in 663) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.028493095 = score(doc=663,freq=7.0), product of:
             0.08310945 = queryWeight, product of:
               2.6313872 = boost
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.3428382 = fieldWeight in 663, product of:
               2.6457512 = tf(freq=7.0), with freq of:
                 7.0 = termFreq=7.0
               2.3694751 = idf(docFreq=11241, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0546875 = fieldNorm(doc=663)
         0.04965728 = weight(abstract_txt:subject in 663) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.04965728 = score(doc=663,freq=2.0), product of:
             0.16433664 = queryWeight, product of:
               3.1555524 = boost
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.30216804 = fieldWeight in 663, product of:
               1.4142135 = tf(freq=2.0), with freq of:
                 2.0 = termFreq=2.0
               3.9070187 = idf(docFreq=2415, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0546875 = fieldNorm(doc=663)
         0.194281 = weight(abstract_txt:descriptive in 663) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.194281 = score(doc=663,freq=5.0), product of:
             0.27315328 = queryWeight, product of:
               3.5232384 = boost
               5.8163543 = idf(docFreq=357, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.7112527 = fieldWeight in 663, product of:
               2.236068 = tf(freq=5.0), with freq of:
                 5.0 = termFreq=5.0
               5.8163543 = idf(docFreq=357, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0546875 = fieldNorm(doc=663)
         0.3885542 = weight(abstract_txt:power in 663) [ClassicSimilarity], result of:
           0.3885542 = score(doc=663,freq=3.0), product of:
             0.71289635 = queryWeight, product of:
               9.294722 = boost
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.013329489 = queryNorm
             0.545036 = fieldWeight in 663, product of:
               1.7320508 = tf(freq=3.0), with freq of:
                 3.0 = termFreq=3.0
               5.754088 = idf(docFreq=380, maxDocs=44218)
               0.0546875 = fieldNorm(doc=663)
       0.2 = coord(5/25)