The Indexing of Electronic Publications--Ways out of Heterogeneity.

This paper begins with some general remarks about the indexing of electronic publications. Characteristics of today's information world are highlighted, including decentralization, distributed data collections, and heterogeneous data structures and indexing procedures. Three possible models for managing access to information are summarized: a centralistic organization; a network of scientists; and standardization, acceptance, and dissemination of metadata. The shell model for indexing electronic resources is presented. The CARMEN project of the Universitatsbibliothek Regensburg (Germany), which deals with the indexing of digital publications, is then described, focusing on cross concordances between different classifications and thesauri. Similar links between a universal thesaurus and specialized thesauri are also discussed. (MES)