Digital Libraries by Fabrice Papy

Author:Fabrice Papy
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781118623596
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

9.2.3.3. Semantics

The semantic analysis provided data on conceptual and terminological concordance of our sample classification structures with authoritative sources in the field of education. Results were obtained through a standard methodology for establishing compatibility, involving manual examination of data and the coder’s judgment as to degree of concordance. Possible values were: Full or Partial terminological concordance, Full or Partial conceptual concordance, and No concordance.

We compared ERD’s class denominations at the top three levels with those appearing in the table of contents of an authoritative reference tool, the Encyclopaedia of Educational Research, 6th edition. Terminological and conceptual concordance remains rather low, with the latter being slightly higher, as could be expected.

Top level class denominations in ERD were also compared to captions in the web version of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). Surprisingly, we note that concordance between ERD and DDC is higher than concordance between ERD and the specialized reference work. This may be explained by the fact that the Dewey system is already used for classifying millions of documents and subjects; most likely, this contributes to making it close to being conceptually complete at the first five or six levels of hierarchy, even in specialized areas. The comparison with Dewey also benefits from the encyclopaedic character of its coverage; when a concept is only peripherally related to education, it will not be found in a specialized reference tool, but it is likely to be found somewhere in a general knowledge organization structure.

Our results reveal that partial concordance is always higher than full concordance, at both conceptual and terminological levels. A quick review of top level classes shows that a single facet, Educational levels, is present in all six structures, either in the form of a first-level inclusive class or as a list of constituting categories (Primary education, Secondary education, etc.). This is not surprising, given that there is not a single (or a best) way to segment and organize the world of concepts, even within the same cultural, political, disciplinary, etc. context. This particularity increases slightly the complexity of the structure, without affecting its authority.

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