Download MeSH - ISKO Italia

Harmonizing professional and
non-professional classifications
for enhanced knowledge
representation
Barbara H. Kwaśnik
School of Information Studies
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, USA
Mary Grace Flaherty
School of Information Studies
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, USA
ISKO Rome, Feb. 2010
Background

Professional classifications
Beghtol (2003)
Classification
created/revised
Scholarly
activity
Consensus
among scholars
New knowledge
Literary warrant
becomes
extensive
Professional classifications
Rely on norms and consensus of
research communities
 Bounded by need to provide truest
reflection of existing norms
 Reflects new knowledge rather than
producing it

Naïve Classifications

Invented to serve a need

Evolve from a contextualized goal,
rather than from a commonly held
one
Harmonizing Classifications
In previous studies we showed how
classifications across cultural boundaries
were adapted (e.g., English language DDC
to Korean DDC) or how cultural
differences for kinship terms were
mapped in LCC and DDC
 In this study we introduce the notion of
the “intrusion of deductive criteria”*


* Hunn, Eugene. Tzeltal folk zoology: the classification of discontinuities in
nature. 1977
The Intrusion of Deductive Criteria
Hunn explains that Tzeltal folk zoology does
not classify humans with monkeys.
 This is not because the Tzeltal powers of
observation are different from the “scientific”
ones, but rather because there is a story of how
monkeys found themselves on the animal side.
 The story trumps the science. No matter what
the inductive evidence of similarity, it isn’t
sufficient to outweigh the deductive mythology.

Naïve and professional
In this same way naïve classifications are
guided by particular goals and models of
discovery.
 This doesn’t mean they are mutually
exclusive, nor that we can’t use the
synergy of both to expand and enrich our
methods of representation.

Most of Us Live in Several Worlds



To the botanist a
“weed” is just
another plant.
Does the gardener
care about the weed’s
botanical attributes?
Does the botanist
care about the weed’s
effect on the garden?
Perhaps. At times.
Under some
conditions.
Approach
Comparison of two classification
schemes in medical information
(using the search term Autism)
◦ Professional scheme
 U.S. National Library of Medicine’s MeSH
◦ Naïve scheme
 Commercial website – WebMD.com
MeSH – Medical Subject Headings
Since late 1800’s the US National
Library of Medicine (NLM) has used
their own terms for medical
literature
 Controlled vocabulary
 Primary users are researchers and
clinicians in biomedical fields

MeSH

Now over 25,000 main subject
headings

Also 160,000 “entry” terms to assist
searching –
ex.Vitamin C use Ascorbic Acid
MeSH
 Medical
literature - important
to standardize terms
ex. high blood pressure = hypertension
outbreaks = disease outbreaks
 Hierarchical
tree structure from
broad to narrow
WebMD.com
Commercial website
 Operated by WebMD Corporation
 Most widely recognized for its
consumer health website
 Primary audience

◦ General public
Results

Searched for the term autism
◦ MeSH
◦ WebMD
MeSH Tree Structure

Psychology and Psychiatry Category
◦ Mental Disorders
◦ Mental Disorders Diagnosed in Childhood
◦ Anxiety, Separation
◦ Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
◦ Attention Deficit Disorder w/Hyperactivity
◦ Conduct Disorder
◦ Child Behavior Disorders
◦ Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
◦ Asperger Syndrome
◦ Autistic Disorder
◦ Rett Syndrome
◦ Schizophrenia, Childhood
MeSH
Psychiatry & Psychology Category
Mental Disorders
Mental Disorders Diagnosed in Childhood
Child Dev. Disorders, Pervasive
Subheadings*
MeSH term:
Autistic disorder
Cerebrospinal fluid
Blood
Chemically
induced
Classification
Diagnosis
Diet
therapy
Drug
therapy
Economics
Enzymology
Immunology
History
Genetics
Mortality
Etiology
Ethnology
Epidemiology
Parasitology
Nursing
Microbiology
Metabolism
Pathology
Prevention &
Control
Physiopathology
Therapy
Psychology
Radiography
Surgery
Ultrasonography
Rehabilitation
Radionuclide
imaging
Urine
Virology
Complications
*This list of subheadings includes those paired at least once with this heading in Medline and
may not reflect current rules for allowable combinations.
WebMD
Functions differently than MeSH
 No controlled vocabulary
 Master index

◦ 6500 topics arranged alphabetically
◦ Lead to 40 “health centers”
Eye Health
(18)
Autism
(114)
Children’s
Health
(7)
Vaccines
(9)
Brain
(14)
Health &
Baby
(21)
Mental
health (11)
Symptoms
Autism Spectrum
Disorders Health Ctr.
Health &
Parenting
(56)
Refine by health topic
Autism
Exams &
Tests
Overview
Other
places to
get help
Treatment
Overview
Home
Treatment
ADD/ADHD
(10)
Drug results for autism
Antidepressant no
Help for Autism
Behaviors (news)
Ads by Yahoo!
Recognizing autism (video)
Autism Symptoms,
Causes, Treatment
& More
Latest on
Autism
Rainfall,
Autism
may be
linked
Parenting a
child with
Autism
Autism &
Family
Relationships
History of
Autism
Autism in the
Classroom
What it’s like to
have autism
Highfunctioning
Autism
WebMD – results from search on front page of website (9/29/09)
FAQ: Vaccine
Court Hears
Autism Cases
Comparison

MeSH
◦ Vocabulary
 Stable and permanent
 Relies on consensus

WebMD
◦ Vocabulary
 “bit of a mess”
 opportunistic
◦ Syntax/Class. Structure
◦ Syntax/Class. Structure
 Elaborate tree structure
 No discernible structure
◦ Context
 Structured, but not
contextualized
◦ Warrant
 Authoritative
 Scientific and literary
◦ Context
 Info. packaged and
browseable
◦ Warrant
 Demand
 Cultural or educational
Conclusions

MeSH may benefit from WebMD’s
approach
◦ Ongoing updates
◦ Currency
◦ Contextualization of terms

WebMD may benefit from the
MeSH approach
◦ Vocabulary control
◦ Better archival retrieval
◦ Richer expansion of terms
References
Beghtol, Clare, 2003, Classification for information retrieval and classification for knowledge
discovery: Relationships between ‘professional’ and ‘naïve’ classifications. Knowledge Organization,
30(2): 64-73.
Beghtol, Clare, 1986, Semantic validity: Concepts of warrant in bibliographic classification systems.
Library Resources & Technical Services 30(2): 109-125
Hunn, Eugene S., 1977, Tzeltal Folk zoology:The classification of discontinuities in nature. New York:
Academic Press, 1977.
Kwaśnik, B.H., Rubin,V.L., 2003, Stretching conceptual structures in classifications across languages
and cultures. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly.
Kwaśnik, B.H., Chun,Y.-L., 2004.Translation of classifications: Issues and solutions as exemplified in
the Korean Decimal Classification. Proceedings of ISKO, London.
Reisinger, D., 2008, Will WebMD lose its stranglehold over health information?
<www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/10/will-webmd-lose-its-stranglehold-over-health-information/>.
Web MD Corporation, 2004, <www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/WebMD- CorporationCompany-History.html>.
What we do for our users, WebMD, 2009, < www.webmd.com/about-webmd-policies/about-what-we-do-forour-users>.
Web documents have been accessed September 29, 2009.
Questions?
Any
Questions?
Thank you.