Incorporating the results of co-word analyses to increase search variety for information retrieval

Abstract

This research aims to incorporate the results of co-word analysis into information retrieval as a means to increase search variety for end users in the domain of information retrieval. Relevant data were first collected from Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index for the period 1987-1997. The results of co-word analysis on the data were compared with similar data obtained from three thesauri: Library and Information Science Abstracts thesaurus, Library of Congress Subject Headings and Thesaurus of Information Technology Terms. The differences detected between them indicate that the search variety may be increased by combining co-word analysis with the use of traditional thesauri. Subsequently, the results of co-word analysis were compared with each other for two different periods (1987-1991 and 1992-1997). The changes among them were identified, implying that co-word analysis may be used directly to identify dynamic changes in its chosen domain area, thereby providing better up-to-date information to aid the information search process.