{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,10]],"date-time":"2025-12-10T08:29:24Z","timestamp":1765355364720,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":4,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2007,3,22]],"date-time":"2007-03-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1174521600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":11037,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1977,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>The primary objective of this paper is to examine the concept of about as it is used in its information retrieval sense when, for example, an indexer judges that a document is (or is not) <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> some given subject. The problem with <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> is that it is a very complex notion and we are unable to say precisely what it is we do when we make judgment of <jats:italic>aboutness<\/jats:italic>. Since <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> is at the heart of indexing, how are we to formulate any proper theory of indexing if we cannot explicate precisely the key concept of <jats:italic>about?<\/jats:italic> In this paper we look at this concept of <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> and offer a solution to the problem mentioned; it consists of an operational definition of <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> which interprets <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> in terms of search behavior.<\/jats:p><jats:p>A second objective of this paper is to show that <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> is, in fact, not the central concept in a theory of document retrieval. A document retrieval system ought to provide a ranked output (in response to a search query) not according to the degree that they are <jats:italic>about<\/jats:italic> the topic sought by the inquiring patron, but rather according to the probability that they will satisfy that person's information need. This paper shows how <jats:italic>aboutness<\/jats:italic> is related to probability of satisfaction.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.4630280107","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2007,6,28]],"date-time":"2007-06-28T00:59:41Z","timestamp":1182992381000},"page":"38-43","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":84,"title":["On indexing, retrieval and the meaning of about"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"M. E.","family":"Maron","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2007,3,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/3769.001.0001"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/321033.321035"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0020-0271(71)90024-6"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_2","unstructured":"Cooper W. S.\u201cIndexing Documents by Gedanken Experimentation.\u201d (In Press)."}],"container-title":["Journal of the American Society for Information Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/api.wiley.com\/onlinelibrary\/tdm\/v1\/articles\/10.1002%2Fasi.4630280107","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/asi.4630280107","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T19:56:59Z","timestamp":1759953419000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/asi.4630280107"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1977,1]]},"references-count":4,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1977,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1002\/asi.4630280107"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/asi.4630280107","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0002-8231","1097-4571"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0002-8231"},{"type":"electronic","value":"1097-4571"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1977,1]]}}}