Humphrey SM. File maintenance of MeSH headings in MEDLINE.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE 1984;
35:34-44. [PMID:
10299353 DOI:
10.1002/asi.4630350106]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
This article addresses file maintenance of subject headings in the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE, a bibliographic retrieval file which is indexed using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), NLM's subject authority. The emphasis is class maintenance in which sets of records in MEDLINE are changed by maintenance actions which reflect yearly changes in MeSH. Specific types of maintenance action are described with examples to highlight problem areas. Class maintenance failures, checking class maintenance, and informing end-users of MeSH changes resulting in class maintenance are discussed. Technical constraints and feasibility are not analyzed in detail; rather, the approach is geared toward requirements and impact of maintenance from the standpoint of vocabulary specialists and end-users. The article concludes with a brief statement on defining file maintenance policy.
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