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College and Research Libraries
January 2004, Vol. 65, No. 1

Book Review

High-Level Subject Access Tools and Techniques in Internet Cataloging. Ed. Judith R. Ahronheim. Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth, 2002. (Copublished simultaneously as Journal of Internet Cataloging, vol. 5, no. 4.) 115p. alk. paper, cloth $39.95 (ISBN 0789020246); paper $24.95 (ISBN 0789020254). LC 2002-151190.

Although librarians have used the Internet for quite some time, only recently have they begun to investigate how to use classification methods to improve access to online information. According to Judith Ahronheim, metadata specialist librarian in the University Library of the University of Michigan, the problem with using existing Web tools is that subject headings are not easy to use and require constant upkeep. This book’s authors propose to apply library cataloguing techniques to the Web interface. This is a far more complex endeavor than it may seem. These articles suggest a series of ideas, problems, and solutions to the application of online subject classification.

Diane Vizine-Goetz, building on Alan Wheatley’s article "Subject Trees on the Internet: A New Role for Bibliographic Classification?" (Journal of Internet Cataloging vol. 2, no. 3/4, 2000), compares the DDC classification scheme with the subject format used by Yahoo! and LookSmart. Essays by Stephen Paul Davis, Kathleen Forsythe and Steve Shadle, and Jonathan Rothman present ideas on how to create and develop access tools that are based on a classification system. For example, Davis describes how a project by Columbia University Libraries has been able to provide easy access to Web-based resources by using the vocabulary from the Library of Congress classification system. The article by Forsythe and Shadle is especially useful for it illustrates how the University of Washington Libraries transferred its existing online catalog into the Web environment. Although the project dates back to 1997, its history provides helpful information concerning the problems and their resolutions that were discovered along the way. The article by Dennis Nicholson, Gordon Dunsire, and Susannah Neil provides insights into the High-Level Thesaurus project in England, demonstrating the challenges that were encountered in developing a shared search engine that would satisfy librarians, archivists, and museum workers.

High-Level Subject Access Tools and Techniques in Internet Cataloging does not provide a simple answer on how to best create subject access in Internet cataloging; however, it does provide ideas for further exploration. The book is well organized, easy to read, and highly informative. Notes are provided at the end of articles, and the book includes an index for easy consultation. Many of the articles also provide graphs and charts that help make the data provided in the text more easily understood. This book is an invaluable source for anyone who wants to better understand the implications of cataloging the Web.—Alessia Zanin-Yost, Montana State University, Bozeman.