Corpus linguistics for indexing

Brookes, Gavin and McEnery, Anthony (2019) Corpus linguistics for indexing. The Indexer: The International Journal of Indexing, 37 (2). pp. 105-124. ISSN 0019-4131

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Abstract

This methodological paper demonstrates how methods from corpus linguistics – a collection of computer-assisted approaches to the analysis of large volumes of text – can be used in the creation of indexes. We begin this article by introducing corpus linguistics, including its main principles and advantages, before demonstrating how corpus methods can be used by indexers, providing a case study in which we create an index for an academic journal article using the established corpus techniques of frequency, keywords, collocation and concordance. This case study shows how when combined with human input and intuition, corpus linguistics methods can provide indexers with new perspectives on the texts they are working on, all the while increasing the systematicity, replicability and objectivity of the indexing process itself.