User Perceptions of Associative Thesaural Relationships: A Preliminary Study

Clarke, Rachel Ivy; Lee, Jin Ha

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/73465 Copy

Description

Title

User Perceptions of Associative Thesaural Relationships: A Preliminary Study

Author(s)

• Clarke, Rachel Ivy
• Lee, Jin Ha

Issue Date

2015-03-15

Keyword(s)

information organization and metadata

Abstract

This study investigates whether potential library users can identify distinctions of associative relationships in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and whether they perceive such relationships as useful. This work tests previous presumptions about user needs and capabilities regarding associative relationships. It lays a foundation for an interconnected network of subject relationships to navigate both libraries and the Web. Using sample related term pairs sourced, potential library users on Amazon Mechanical Turk were asked to identify narrower distinctions of established associative relationship types. Results indicate that some associative relationship types, especially near-synonymous/frequently interchangeable terms, are easily identifiable while others, like position in time and space, remain problematic. Despite an inclination against library catalog use, potential library users do perceive associative relationships as useful and suggest a variety of additional associative relationship types. For some users, the type of associative relationship may be less important than relationship closeness or proximity.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2015 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

English

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73465

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Copyright 2015 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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