The issue of subject access has a long history in library and information science. The advent of computing machinery, the online public access catalog, and the internet have enabled new solutions while increasing the complexity of the problem. Research suggests that human aided machine processing works best, but the debate continues. New computing brings ever-hopeful solutions, but old obstacles stubbornly persist.
The potential of visualization and mapping for aiding subject access was seen early on. Cochrane’s work in the mid 1970s showed promise that was not fulfilled, but the advent of powerful geographic information systems (GIS) and new web-enabled visualization software has revitalized mapping as a discovery tool. This excitement is not without its critics who take issue with errors of scale, currency, context, and cultural geographies.
This poster session presents some initial experiments in mapping subjects on a university campus. The author suggests that two critical components of visualizing subject involve local practice and local geography and that one avenue of reconciliation for the subject access debate is interactive user-based local map development. Using GIS software, a campus map, building schematics, a local database, and some common thesauri the author has built a test model for visualizing (mapping) social science subjects at North Carolina State University and Yale University. The project explores a number of logistical and theoretical challenges in mapping and database construction.