subject index
<information science> An information resource that contains references to
other resources, categorised by subject, usually in a hierarchy.
Yahoo is the most popular Internet subject index. Like most other subject
indices, Yahoo is arranged ontologically.
Subject indices are not to be confused with search engines, which are based not
on subject, but instead on relevance, although (1) this difference is often
(possibly rightly) hidden from the unsophisticated user, and (2) future
integration of knowledge representation into relevance ranking algorithms will
make this a hazy distinction.
(1997-04-09)
Nearby terms:
subband encoding « subclass « subject « subject index
» subject-oriented programming » sublanguage » subnet
