The document discusses different types of document surrogates including abstracts, extracts, summaries, terse literature, and synopses. It describes the key parts and qualities of an abstract, as well as their various uses. Different types of abstracts are outlined according to information content, authorship, purpose, and form. Guidelines for writing abstracts including length, structure, style, and formatting are also provided.

1. Abstracts & Abstracting

2. Types of Document Surrogates Annotation – a sentence description or explanation of the document Extract – produced by drawing out sentences from this. Summary – a restatement of the document salient findings and conclusions that is intended to complete the orientation of the reader who has read the previous text. Terse Literature – a highly abbreviated statement that encapsulated the major points of a document. Synopsis – concise original publication of key results selected from an available but previously unpublished paper.

3. Abtsract An abbreviated and accurate representation of significant substance of a documentary unit Accompanied by an adequate bibliographic description Is a document surrogate

4. Parts of an Abstract reference body signature

5. Qualities of an Abstract Accuracy Brevity Clarity

6. Uses of Abstracts Facilitate document selection or determination of document relevant to user interests Facilitate literature searches Promote current awareness Save reading time of the user Help surmount the language barrier Improve indexing efficiency Aid in the preparation of reviews and bibliographies

7. Types of Materials Abstracted journals technical reports theses/dissertations books patent specifications conferences and symposiums proceedings reviews

8. Types of Abstracts According to information content 1. Indicative (descriptive abstract) - simply describes or indicates what the item is about - d iscloses what significant information and specific data can be found in the document. 2. Informative abstract - provides quantitative and qualitative information - not for theoretical studies and opinion articles

9. Types of Abstracts According to information content 3. Indicative-informative abstract 4. Critical abstract - evaluative in nature - expresses views on the quality of the work and perhaps contrasts it with other works

10. Types of Abstracts According to author of abstract Author-prepared abstract Subject expert-prepared abstract Professional abstractor- prepared

11. Types of Abstracts According to purpose 1. Discipline-oriented abstract - written for a specific area of knowledge/discipline 2. Mission-oriented abstract - written based on a specific information need

12. Types of Abstracts According to purpose 3. Slanted abstract often considered as a form of mission-oriented abstract. Highlights or concentrates on a selected portion of a document's subject content.

13. Types of Abstracts According to form 1. Statistical or Tabular abstract - a summary of the data presented in tabular form 2. Modular abstract - full content description of a document that has 5 parts written in the following order: citation, annotation, indicative abstract, informative abstract and critical abstract

14. Types of Abstracts According to form 3. Structured abstract - uses a worksheet/template containing items or elements found in the documents - for medical journals: background, aim, methods, results and conclusions 4. Mini-abstract - machine-readable index-abstract - terms are drawn from a controlled vocabulary and are arranged in a specified sequence nearly approximating that of a sentence structure

16. Example: /METHOD/DETERM/STRONTIUM/BONE/HUMAN/RADIOACTIVATION/ANALYSIS A method is described for the determination of strontium and barium in human bone by radioactivation analysis.

17. Types of Abstracts According to form 5. Telegraphic abstract - presented in incomplete sentences and resembling a telegram or string of terms without syntax - originated in the early computerized retrieval system development at Western Reserve University

18. Types of Abstracts Miscellaneous types . 1. Homotopic abstract – published simultaneously with the original document. 2. Highlight abstract – designed to attract the reader's attention to an article. To arouse readers' curiosity, incomplete and leading remarks are used.

19. Length of an Original Document and Its Abstract Articles, portions of monographs Notes, short communications Editorials, letters to the editor Monographs and theses 250 words 100 words 30 words 300 words

20. Approximate Length of an Informative Abstract Nature and scope of the study Objectives Research methods Findings Conclusions 3% 7% 15% 70% 5%

21. Locations of Bibliographic Citation Precedes the abstract Immediately follows the abstract Title of the original document precedes the abstract but the remainder of the bibliographic citation follows the text of the abstract

22. Writing an Abstract Judgements are subjective to the abstractor. Quality will depend on the abstractor's experience.

23. Writing an Abstract General steps in abstracting: Determine relevancy of the material Accurately and fully record the bibliographic reference Reading and understanding Carry out content analysis of document Interpretation through writing an annotation Mark and write the required content information for the abstract Draft the abstract Edit then write final copy of the abstract Recording the abstractor’s name Arrangement of abstracts

24. Writing an Abstract Rules for good writing writing of abstracts Language Use of abbreviations commonly understood Use of standard and familiar terms Avoid using trade jargons and colloquial terms Avoid verbosity and redundancy

25. Writing an Abstract Paragraphing and Structured Abstracts write the abstract as a single paragraph structured abstracts, however, the major points of the text are presented in several labeled paragraphs rather than a single one.

26. Writing an Abstract Complete Sentences Generally, use complete sentences. Where incomplete sentences are used, they should be clear and coherent, for example: Survey of efforts of Rennaisance architects to interpret Vitruvius' description of the ancient Roman House. [Deleted verb.] Examines the ideological relations of the Holy Sepulchre, as manifested in writings, ceremonies and architecture. [Deleted subject.]

27. Writing an Abstract First Sentences Avoid naming the type of document (e.g. “This article evaluates”, “This essay examines”, or “This study presents”).

28. Writing an Abstract Nontextual Materials Include short tables, structural formulas, equations and diagrams only when necessary for brevity and clarity and when no other acceptable alternative exists. Treatment of Added Details Access services that choose to include further details about the document itself should place them either at the end of the abstract or as parts of the bibliographic reference. These details need not be in sentence form.

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