College and Research Libraries By J O H N H E N R Y M E R R Y M A N Tactics and Terminology in Information Retrieval: a Summary of Recent W o r k TH E S E T E N T A T I V E remarks o n terminol-ogy have been s t i m u l a t e d by conver- sations overheard at meetings 1 of per- sons interested in the organization a n d retrieval of i n f o r m a t i o n a n d by the chap- ter o n terminology in a recent book. 2 I t has become clear t h a t w h e n talking to people in the field one should be care- f u l to use the a p p r o p r i a t e terms, n o t so m u c h to facilitate c o m m u n i c a t i o n as to establish status. Use of the r i g h t words in the r i g h t way early in a conversation can m e a n the difference between b e i n g o n e u p or o n e down. 3 Aside f r o m the l a n d m a r k articles by Chadwick 4 little f o r m a l work has b e e n d o n e in this area to date. T h e outlines of the field are, however, emerging. T h e writer has h a d the o p p o r t u n i t y of hear- ing in action, as it were, a n u m b e r of persons who, t h o u g h unschooled, show r e m a r k a b l e n a t u r a l ability. T h e promise they display may p e r h a p s justify publish- 1 The most recent of these was the S y m p o s i u m on S y s t e m s for I n f o r m a t i o n Retrieval held in Cleveland on April 15-17, 1957, under the auspices of t h e Council of D o c u m e n t a t i o n Research and a number of cooperating organizations. ' J a m e s D . Mack and Robert S. Taylor, " A Sys- tem of Documentation T e r m i n o l o g y , " in J. H . Shera, A l l e n Kent and J. W . Perry, eds., Documentation in Action ( N e w Y o r k : Interscience Press, 1 9 5 6 ) , p. 15. 3 A colleague has suggested that the work of a British chap with some such name as P o d d e r or Pother or Putter, on cheating at games, is relevant t o the subject of this article. Perhaps. On the surface the s u g g e s t i o n seems bizarre. T h e writer has _ found n o references to Podder ( P o t h e r ? P u t t e r ? ) in the i n f o r m a t i o n retrieval literature. 4 A . John Chadwick, "The Competitive Principle, Occasional Papers of the Bombay Bicycle Club, vol. 51 ( 4 t h s e r i e s ) , no. 17 ( 1 9 5 4 ) ; "Lying in W a i t , " in Berichte und Schriften sum 60. Geburtstag, R. S. N a h t a n a g h a r , p. 425 ( L e i p z i g , 1 9 5 5 ) . Mr. Merryman is Associate Professor and Librarian, School of Law, Stanford University. ing this r o u g h o u t l i n e of their p r i m i t i v e b u t ingenious work, which is s u b m i t t e d merely as a basis f o r f u t u r e study. Before discussing i n d i v i d u a l terms it seems desirable to m a k e the p o i n t t h a t one m u s t n o t only use the r i g h t words b u t must use t h e m in the r i g h t way. Cer- t a i n g u i d i n g principles of c o n d u c t in their use can be tentatively advanced at this stage with, however, the w a r n i n g t h a t f u t u r e work may be expected to alter their m e a n i n g a n d a p p l i c a t i o n . T h e r e a d e r is expected to employ these prin- ciples judiciously, recognizing t h a t all possible situations c a n n o t be a n t i c i p a t e d in advance of their actually occurring. T h e y are merely generalizations d r a w n f r o m the, as yet, p i t i f u l l y small l i t e r a t u r e a n d the few o p p o r t u n i t i e s for observa- tion which have come to the writer's at- t e n t i o n . As the n u m b e r of observed a n d recorded situations grows we m u s t ex- pect t o a m e n d these generalizations to c o n f o r m w i t h the facts. It is h o p e d t h a t in this way a truly scientific body of doc- trine can be assembled a n d perfected. T h u s u n d e r s t o o d these generalizations may be useful. W e begin w i t h the most basic of all, the Competitive Principle, m o r e commonly called Chadwick's Law. 5 I t is difficult to overstate the i m p o r t a n c e the i m p o r t a n c e of this discovery, which m u s t be considered one of the great theo- retical advances of the age. Before Chad- 5 First revealed to the world in Chadwick's f a m o u s paper, "The Competitive Principle," op. cit. supra. T h e reader may already be familiar with the reaction of the audience, when Chadwick read it to them in the Main Hall of the Club's headquarters. S o m e stalked out in anger, others tried to shout him down, but the w i s e f e w listened and, at the end, stood in respect. j JANUARY 1958 33 wick's work, it is fair to say, all was chaos. Simply stated, in n o n - m a t h e m a t i - cal form, 6 it means this: in any conversa- tion in the i n f o r m a t i o n retrieval field o n e m u s t regard the person to w h o m one speaks as a n adversary a n d the conversa- t i o n as a contest in which, inevitably, one will gain prestige at the expense of the other. ( T h i s f o r m u l a t i o n refers only to the two-party s i t u a t i o n . T h e b e g i n n e r s h o u l d avoid m o r e complex conversa- tions u n t i l he has a sure grasp of the f u n - damentals. M a n y a talented novice has been spoiled trying to move along too fast. Obviously the greater the n u m b e r of a d v e r s a r i e s t h e g r e a t e r t h e o d d s against the i n d i v i d u a l — a n d the larger the n u m b e r of witnesses.)7 F a i l u r e to apply Chadwick's law is a c o m m o n e r r o r of the most drastic sort. A n obvious e x a m p l e is the tendency a m o n g beginners to ask questions w h i c h indicate ignorance. T h u s Chadwick tells8 of a n occasion o n w h i c h h e let d r o p t h e relatively c o m m o n t e r m " s u p e r i m p o s e d r a n d o m c o d i n g " i n t h e first sentence of a conversation w i t h a person of un- k n o w n ability. I m a g i n e Chadwick's reac- tion when, as he p u t it, " D o you k n o w w h a t the fellow did, M e r r y m a n ? H e asked me w h a t 'superimposed r a n d o m coding' m e a n t . " C h a d w i c k n a t u r a l l y t u r n e d o n his heel in c o n t e m p t a n d walked off w i t h o u t answering, not, as some spectators t h o u g h t , because of the poor chap's ignorance, b u t because his ready display of t h a t ignorance showed h i m to be a n i n e x p e r i e n c e d a n d unwor- thy adversary. H e h a d failed to apply this elementary p r i n c i p l e a n d h a d sought 8 The mathematical derivation of Chadwick's Law is quite complex and will not be repeated here. The qualified reader will find an adequate discussion in Chadwick's articles, op. cit. supra, n. 4. 7 The problem of quantifying the effect of non- participants (spectators) on the flow of prestige re- mains to be solved, as does the infinitely more com- plex problem of quantifying the interactions of non- isolated groups operating simultaneously (the well- known foyer-phenomenon). Perhaps, as Chadwick suggests, the solution may lie in the use of three- dimensional matrices. 8 "The Competitive Principle," op. cit. supra, n. 4, p. 22. I i n f o r m a t i o n , r a t h e r t h a n tactical advan- tage. ( T h e r e a d e r is w a r n e d t h a t this ex- a m p l e does n o t prove t h a t questions should never be asked. T h e r e are a n u m - ber of situations in which carefully de- vised questions have tactical value. See especially Chadwick's p a p e r on "Lying in W a i t . " ) 9 P e r h a p s Chadwick's Law, lying as it does at the r o o t of the thing, can s u p p o r t o n e m o r e e x a m p l e . T h i s is the case of the i n v i t a t i o n to cooperate. As Chadwick records it,1 0 A a n d B have b e g u n a con- versation a n d a p p e a r t o b e e v e n l y m a t c h e d . N e i t h e r has g a i n e d any appre- ciable a d v a n t a g e w h e n A pauses in the m i d d l e of a sentence, obviously g r o p i n g f o r the a p p r o p r i a t e term. T h e possibili- ties are two: e i t h e r he really is searching for the term or he is not. I n the f o r m e r case if B supplies the term, say "inter- fix," he has (1) h e l p e d his o p p o n e n t a n d (2) laid himself o p e n to a riposte. If A is a conversationalist of any ability he will instinctively decline " i n t e r f i x " w i t h scorn a n d s u b s t i t u t e " c o n c e p t u a l link- age" which, he will imply, is the only possibly a p p r o p r i a t e t e r m in the context. T h e consequences to B w o u l d be even m o r e drastic if A's g r o p i n g for the t e r m were feigned (as w o u l d n o r m a l l y be the case), since h e t h e n w o u l d be lying in wait a n d could be expected to have a carefully p r e p a r e d riposte ready should B be so foolish as to cooperate. T h u s the corollary "never c o o p e r a t e " is a n appro- p r i a t e e x t e n s i o n of Chadwick's Law. Pseudo-cooperation, or merely a p p e a r i n g to cooperate, however, is q u i t e a n o t h e r m a t t e r , especially w h e n there are specta- tors. T h u s B can create the impression t h a t he is q u i t e a good fellow a n d at the same time score well by offering to lend A a recent article (or a n advance copy of a book n o t yet o n the stalls) t h a t per- h a p s A has n o t seen a n d which A m i g h t 8 Op. cit. supra, n. 4. 10 "The Competitive Principle," op. cit. supra, n. 4, p. 47. 34 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES find h e l p f u l as a n elementary introduc- tion to recent work in the field. A second f u n d a m e n t a l c o n t r i b u t i o n comes to us f r o m the work of Forsch. Forsch has n o t d o n e any research in the i n f o r m a t i o n retrieval field, b u t his in- vestigations of the use of language by the behavioral scientists are now recog- nized as classics.11 As the r e a d e r will re- call, Forsch f o u n d a n d described three personality types, each w i t h its own char- acteristic h a b i t s of language utilization a n d affectation. T h e s e are the ectolin- guistic (adapts j a r g o n f r o m o t h e r fields, usually the p u r e sciences; favors poly- syllabic constructions), the endolinguis- tic (invents j a r g o n specially for the field a n d works it h a r d ; f r e q u e n t l y earnest to the p o i n t of being intense), a n d the mesolinguistic ( i m p a t i e n t w i t h j a r g o n a n d wishes t h a t people would use p l a i n words a n d say precisely w h a t they mean). For the sake of brevity we will a d o p t Forsch's short titles for these classes: Ectol, Endol a n d Mesol. T h e writer's own investigations t e n d to confirm his earlier hypothesis t h a t these types exist in the i n f o r m a t i o n re- trieval field in almost as clearly defined f o r m as in the behavorial sciences. T h i s discovery has i m p o r t a n t consequences in the d e v e l o p m e n t of terminology strategy, since it enables one to classify one's ad- versary early in the conversation. I t then becomes possible to a d o p t the a p p r o p r i - ate tactic w i t h confidence. Clearly, if the adversary has revealed himself as, say, an Ectol, it becomes m u c h simpler to choose a m o n g the available courses of action. Consequently the second basic principle of conduct in the use of infor- m a t i o n retrieval terminology can be very simply stated in this way: Know Your Adversary. Get h i m to speak u p so as to h e l p you classify h i m ; draw h i m o u t u n t i l he commits himself; m a k e h i m talk 11 Pablo Forsch, The Scientific Study of Language Behavior Among the Behaviorial Scientists: A Report and an Analysis (Buenos Aires, 1952). first a n d the conversation is half won. A few examples may illustrate this principle in such a way as to show its utility. T h e writer has been extremely f o r t u n a t e in having the o p p o r t u n i t y of working w i t h Chadwick in the field a n d has recorded a n u m b e r of actual conver- sations which show the master's tech- nique. 1 2 O n l y the relevant parts of these conversations are r e p r o d u c e d here. E x a m p l e 1. Adversary. . . . You m i g h t b e i n t e r e s t e d i n o u r p r o b l e m . W e h a v e 100,000,000 b i t s of i n f o r m a t i o n in a h i g h e n t r o p y state. A t p r e s e n t we a r e t r y i n g t o get a n O . R . t e a m t o g e t h e r t o s t r u c t u r e a system f o r us. W e t h i n k a c o o r d i n a t e system, w i t h s u i t a b l e p a r a m e t e r s , m i g h t be w o r t h t r y i n g o n a p i l o t p l a n t basis b u t we a r e w o r r i e d a b o u t t h e noise p r o b l e m . Chadwick (who always enjoys m e e t i n g an Ectol, particularly one as far gone as this). Sounds to m e like a j o b any decent l i b r a r i a n could h a n d l e . W h a t precisely d o you expect these operations research chaps to do? E x a m p l e 2. Adversary. . . . As a d o c u m e n t a l i s t y o u m u s t h a v e f o l l o w e d t h e d i s p u t e b e t w e e n Perry's s e m a n t i c f a c t o r i n g school a n d T a u b e ' s U n i t e r m d e s c r i p t o r s system w i t h some i n t e r e s t . W h i c h d o y o u t h i n k h o l d s t h e g r e a t e r p r o m i s e f o r s o l u t i o n of t h e p r o b l e m s of i n f o r m a t i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n , storage, a n d retrieval? Chadwick (who immediately recog- nizes his m a n as a n Endol). N e i t h e r . T h e work of the B u r e a u of Standards people in using analog computers to search steroids, relying o n some simple notions f r o m topology, is the only significant ad- vance in d o c u m e n t a t i o n to date. Pos- sibly the Minicard, Filmorex, a n d R a p i d 12 The work was carried on under a grant from the Jas. Joyce Foundation for Research in Linguistic Behavior. A full report will be published in 1958 by the Foundation. All responsibility for the conclusions expressed in this article and the forthcoming book is of course taken by Chadwick and the writer. JANUARY 1958 35 Selector e x p e r i m e n t s may, in time, re- d u c e m a n i p u l a t i o n a n d storage prob- lems. B u t as to the theory of the t h i n g look to the P a t e n t Office a n d B u r e a u of S t a n d a r d s groups, n o t to these gadgets. E x a m p l e 3. Adversary. . . . All this r o t o n e h e a r s a b o u t d o c u m e n t a t i o n a n d i n f o r m a t i o n re- trieval a n d all t h a t . A lot of j a r g o n . B u n c h of c o m p u t e r - h a p p y adolescents. U s i n g w o r d s to h i d e a d e a r t h of ideas. Etc. Chadwick (smiling inwardly at the prospect of dealing w i t h a g e n u i n e Mesol). I suppose it's t r u e t h a t one w h o is u n f a m i l i a r w i t h the field occasionally does bog d o w n in the terminology. T h e reader will agree t h a t in each case Chadwick has scored well. W h a t may n o t be so obvious is the fact t h a t each of these corking good shots is a n e x a m p l e n o t only of virtuosity b u t of c a r e f u l analysis a n d cool, d e l i b e r a t e p l a n n i n g . H e r e are classic illustrations of the t h r e e types identified by Forsch, together w i t h the three m a j o r categories of m a n o e u v r e properly executed. 1 3 T h e r e a d e r may profit f r o m some e x p l a n a t i o n of these manoeuvres in the context of the ex- amples given. I n e x a m p l e 1, Chadwick employed the o p p o s i t i o n m a n o e u v r e . T h a t is to say, a f t e r i d e n t i f y i n g his o p p o n e n t as an Ectol he a d o p t e d the characteristics of one of the o t h e r two l a n g u a g e types—in this case the Mesol—as a basis for retalia- tion. O n e can almost feel the physical impact of his reply. I n e x a m p l e 2 he d o u b l e d , by which it is m e a n t t h a t h e a d o p t e d the same game as his adversary b u t w e n t h i m one better. ( T h e writer has discussed the m a t t e r w i t h Chadwick, w h o a d m i t s t h a t the risk of a r e d o u b l e exists in this m a n o e u v r e . As he points out, however, Endols are n o r m a l l y m u c h too earnest a n d sincere to pose m u c h of 13 For a fuller discussion of these manoeuvres see Chadwick's paper, "Lying in Wait," op. cit. supra, n. 4, p. 481, et seq. a t h r e a t . T o g u a r d against the u n u s u a l it is wise to save some a m m u n i t i o n to re-redouble with, as he h a d d o n e in this case. H e was p r e p a r e d , should the need arise, to move to a discussion of Kirsch's work o n a general m a t h e m a t i c a l theory of i n f o r m a t i o n storage a n d retrieval. S o u n d m a n , Chadwick). I n e x a m p l e 3, in w h i c h Chadwick shows excellent form, the r e a d e r will recognize the elegant simplicity of the flanking m a n o e u v r e , which is p a r t i c u l a r l y effective against Mesols. Even t h o u g h he c a n n o t witness the adversaries in action or h e a r their inflections the r e a d e r can well imagine the impressive power Chadwick b r o u g h t to b e a r in this flanker. E x t r a o r d i n a r i l y good show. T h e s e few r e m a r k s o n the use of terms s h o u l d be sufficient to convince the read- er of the i m p o r t a n c e of k n o w i n g the terminology itself. T h e best strategies de- p e n d , in the last analysis, on a c a r e f u l choice of the terms to be used. H e r e again Chadwick's Law operates. T h e im- p o r t a n t t h i n g is n o t the meaning of the term. Indeed, n o t h i n g could be less rele- v a n t . W h a t o n e needs to keep a firm grasp o n is the use of the term, its pres- tige value a n d the like. Obviously the m e a n i n g d e p e n d s o n w h o is using the t e r m a n d f o r w h a t purpose. It is for this reason t h a t t h e writer feels it necessary to criticize the g a m e try m a d e in a recent p u b l i c a t i o n . 1 4 T h e authors, lacking a clear u n d e r s t a n d i n g of Chadwick's Law, have b o t c h e d the whole thing. W h i l e driven, p e r h a p s by instinct, to some fairly sound tactical use of terms, they have d i l u t e d the effort by trying to con- vey i n f o r m a t i o n . I n d o i n g so they have fallen between stools. T h e i r piece fails strategically a n d it c a n n o t honestly be said to carry m u c h m e a n i n g . A n e x a m p l e m i g h t m a k e t h e p o i n t clearer. T h e a u t h o r s i n c l u d e the follow- ing in their table of d o c u m e n t a t i o n ter- minology: 14 Mack and Taylor, op. cit. supra, n. 2. 36 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES Index. A s y s t e m a t i c a l l y a r r a n g e d list of t h e n a m e s of s u b j e c t s o c c u r i n g i n a d o c u - m e n t o r g r o u p of d o c u m e n t s , w i t h a n i n d i - c a t i o n of t h e p l a c e s i n w h i c h t h e y o c c u r . O n e of t h e stages i n t h e a n a l y s i s of i n f o r - m a t i o n . I n t h e sense t h a t i t a t t e m p t s t o e v a l u a t e t h e c o n t e n t s , s c o p e o r i m p o r t a n c e of a g i v e n p u b l i c a t i o n , a n Annotated In- dex a p p r o a c h e s a n Abstract. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a Bibliographical Index m a k e s n o s u c h a t t e m p t , b u t is c o n f i n e d t o f u r n i s h - i n g v e r i f i c a t i o n a n d t r a c i n g d a t a . A Sub- ject Index r e v e a l s t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s be- t w e e n s u b j e c t s b y a n a l y z i n g t h e g i v e n field of k n o w l e d g e i n t o e l e m e n t a r y t e r m s , or- d e r i n g t h e m s y s t e m a t i c a l l y , a n d synthesiz- i n g s u b j e c t s b y c o m b i n a t i o n s of t h e s e t e r m s . 1 5 T h i s p a r a g r a p h shows some promise. "Analysis of i n f o r m a t i o n " is good, as are "Verification a n d tracing d a t a " a n d "syn- thesizing subjects." B u t the rest of it is sheer waste which only weakens the tac- tical value of the u s e f u l p a r t . T h e fol- lowing is a clearer a n d m u c h more u s e f u l t r e a t m e n t of the same term: Index. O r i g i n l i b r a r i a n s h i p , b o o k p u b - l i s h i n g , e t c . P r e s t i g e v a l u e n e g a t i v e . Oc- c a s i o n a l l y u s e d b y Mesols, b u t o t h e r w i s e t a c t i c a l v a l u e n i l . A l t e r n a t i v e s : coding dic- tionary; analysis of information; descriptor schedule; e t c . T h e superior value of this k i n d of in- f o r m a t i o n is obvious. It gets to the p o i n t , r a t h e r t h a n p u t t e r i n g a r o u n d w i t h ir- relevancies. O n e m o r e e x a m p l e may drive the m a t t e r home. Mack a n d T a y l o r include the following in their tabula- tion: Parameter—Computers. I n a s u b r o u t i n e , a q u a n t i t y w h i c h m a y b e g i v e n d i f f e r e n t v a l u e s w h e n t h e s u b r o u t i n e is u s e d i n d i f - f e r e n t p a r t s of o n e m a i n r o u t i n e , b u t w h i c h u s u a l l y r e m a i n s u n c h a n g e d t h r o u g h - o u t a n y s u c h use. T o u s e a s u b r o u t i n e suc- cessfully i n m a n y d i f f e r e n t p r o g r a m s re- q u i r e s t h a t t h e s u b r o u t i n e b e a d a p t a b l e b y c h a n g i n g its p a r a m e t e r s . 1 6 laIbid., p. 21. 16 Ibid., p. 23-24. T h i s is very weak. " C o m p u t e r s " is a u s e f u l term, b u t it is merely t h r o w n in here, w i t h n o pretense of a n a t t e m p t to use it tactically. " S u b r o u t i n e " is only fair, b u t it m i g h t carry slightly m o r e p u n c h t h a n the extremely colorless "pro- g r a m . " T h e total effect is one of insipid- ity. Contrast the following suggested t r e a t m e n t : Parameter. E c t o l t e r m . O r i g i n m a t h e m a t - ics. P r e s t i g e v a l u e l a r g e a n d p o s i t i v e . C o u - p l e w i t h Computers, systems, etc., f o r m a x - i m u m e f f e c t . E f f e c t i v e l y u s e d i n q u e s t i o n s ; e.g. W h a t a r e t h e parameters of y o u r sys- tem? T h e s e examples should m a k e it entirely clear t h a t Chadwick's Law operates in the choice of terms as well as in their use. It is h o p e d t h a t in the f u t u r e those w h o compile a n n o t a t e d lists of terms will k e e p it m o r e clearly in m i n d , t h u s avoid- ing the mistakes of Mack a n d T a y l o r . I n conclusion the w r i t e r wishes to re- m i n d his readers t h a t m u c h work re- mains to be done. Chadwick a n d Forsch were pioneers. T h e y have b r o k e n the g r o u n d , so to speak. W h a t c o n f r o n t s those of us w h o follow is the less n o b l e b u t still r e w a r d i n g task of w o r k i n g o u t in detail the a p p l i c a t i o n of their discov- eries to the m u l t i t u d e of specific prob- lems in the field. T h e r e is r o o m for origi- nality here, for inspired creative work, b u t we also need the work of the dedi- cated p l o d d e r w i t h the s o u n d b u t prosaic m i n d . As in the past, science can a n d will b u i l d f o r the f u t u r e o n the efforts of many such m e n as they d o their p a r t s in a p p l y i n g the theories of the giants. W h a t has been presented h e r e is mere- ly a n o u t l i n e of the m a j o r advances to date. If a few readers are s t i m u l a t e d to apply themselves to the m a n y r e m a i n i n g problems crying o u t for solution the writer will feel he has b e e n m o r e t h a n adequately r e p a i d for his small effort. JANUARY 1958 37