Scope

• Indexes contain in an ordered manner (usually a list) all the contents (information) of a particular field in every record in a database.
• Indexes speed searching of a database by enabling users to search relatively uniform lists of specific types of information rather than all of the fields in every record in the Database.
• A Database may have numerous Indexes.

Types of Indexes

• Indexes used in virtually all library catalogs
  • Number Indexes (ISBN, Dewey Decimal Number, date)
  • Phrase Indexes (Title Index, Subtitle Index)
  • Subject Index (Library of Congress Subject Headings)
  • Author Index
  • Name Index
  • Text or body index
  • Keyword Indexes'
• Some of the indexes that may be used in other databases

  author index	title index
  publisher index	subject headings index
  keyword index	abstract index
  page numbers index	publication date index
  volume number index	issue number index
  chemical formula index	image index

• Search Engines have fewer indexes. They usually include:

  Web page title (which appears at the top of the browser)	title index
  Headings index (Usually the bold, larger titles for sections)	keyword index
  Link index	URL index
  Format (html, Word (.doc), Acrobat (.pdf)	Date stored on the host server's hard disk.

Organization of the contents of Indexes

• Indexes may be organized in several ways, including:
  • By date of entry
  • By numerical hierarchy
    • Examples:
      • ISBN, call numbers, publication date
  • By alphabetical ordering
    • Examples:
      • authors, titles, keywords, subjects