Information Retrieval Thesaurus
The IS-A test applied to a superordinate and a subordinate term in a thesaurus identifies
a hierarchical relationship between them, which is vertical
This is a term record in
an information retrieval thesaurus; toxicology is the descriptor; and poisons is related equivalently, hazards hierarchically, and pollution associatively to it
The relationship in an information retrieval thesaurus between the words dehydration and water is the
associative relationship
When you use a thesaurus to do a subject search of a periodical index bibliographic database, you
can search down, although not up, semantic hierarchies, because each superordinate/parent descriptor contains its subordinate/child descriptors (for example, in the semantic hierarchy weapons > guns > rifles/pistols "weapons" contains both "guns" and "rifles/pistols," but "guns" contains both "rifles" and "pistols" but not "weapons")
The relationship between an entry term and a descriptor in a thesaurus is the
equivalent relationship
The relationship between the words guns and rifles in a thesaurus is
hierarchical
The relative arrangement in a single group of such words as weapons, guns or firearms, and rifles is called a
semantic hierarchy
An entry term in a thesaurus is a
synonym for a descriptor by which a searcher enters the controlled vocabulary of an information retrieval thesaurus
According to the process of postcoordination in indexing and cataloging in libraries,
the burden of information retrieval is on the searcher
The difference between a dictionary-type thesaurus, such as the one you used in high school, and an information retrieval thesaurus, such as one that you now use in an EBSCOhost database, is that
they lead in opposite directions