When More is Better: A Counter-Narrative Regarding Keyword and Subject Retrieval in Digitized Diaries

Abstract

Many commercial full-text databases and digital libraries provide keyword and preferred-term (subject) indexing, but few allow participatory tagging of content by users or provide ontologies in support of natural language information retrieval. Consequently, keyword and subject searching strategies still matter. But keyword searching, because it can yield results high in recall and low in precision, is often seen as a beginner's strategy best replaced by subject searching using authoritative headings and descriptors. In certain circumstance explored in this essay, keyword searching may be quite effective in and of itself for retrieving digitized primary sources for the study of history.