INTRODUCTION

In 1970, the C o m m i t t e e on Linguistics in D o c u m e n t a t i o n of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l F e d e r a t i o n f o r D o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m i s s i o n e d the p r e p a r a t i o n of a survey of the linguistic c o m p o n e n t s of d o c u m e n t analysis, d e s c r i p t i o n , and retrieval. Karen Sparck J o n e s and M a r t i n Kay, the C o m m i t t e e m e m b e r s from the U n i t e d K i n g d o m and the U n i t e d States, respectively, accepted the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for c a r r y i n g out this study. T h e survey i n c l u d e d e x a m i n a t i o n s of the relation that linguistic theory bears to the s t r u c t u r e of knowledge; the relevance of p h o n o l o g y , m o r p h o l o g y , syntax, and s e m a n t i c s to the o r g a n i z a t i o n , storage, and t r a n s m i s s i o n of i n f o r m a t i o n ; and how c o m p u t a t i o n a l linguistics has been and how it m i g h t be a p p l i e d to i n f o r m a t i o n h a n d l i n g . It also c o n s i d e r e d topics like a u t o m a t i c m o r p h o l o g i c a l and s y n t a c t i c analysis, m a c h i n e t r a n s l a t i o n and m a c h i n e - a i d e d t r a n s l a t i o n , a u t o m a t i c i n d e x i n g and a b s t r a c t i n g , and the m a c h i n e p r e p a r a t i o n of indexes and thesauruses. T h e results were published u n d e r the title Linguistics and Information Science*. On the basis of t h e i r analysis, Sparck J o n e s and Kay c o n c l u d e d that the i m p a c t of linguistics on i n f o r m a t i o n science had been small. T h e y r e c o m m e n d e d strongly that e f f o r t s be directed toward d e t e r m i n i n g what could be d o n e to p r o v i d e m o r e effective c o l l a b o r a t i o n and c o m m u n i c a t i o n between these d i s c i p l i n e s . T o w a r d this goal and responsive to a suggestion by H a n s K a r l g r e n , the C o m m i t t e e m e m b e r from Sweden, who had p r o m p t e d the initial study, the C o m m i t t e e decided at its m e e t i n g in 1975 to o r g a n i z e a W o r k s h o p that would b r i n g together specialists in the relevant areas to work toward a c o m p r e h e n s i v e research plan. The W o r k s h o p was scheduled for 3-5 May 1976; Sweden was selected as the site. Karlgren v o l u n t e e r e d to h a n d l e local a r r a n g e m e n t s and secured as a c o n f e r e n c e facility the B i s k o p s A r n o estate, which is located near S t o c k h o l m and run by an association for I n t r a Scandinavian Cultural Cooperation. T h e people invited to p a r t i c i p a t e represented a broad range of interests and b a c k g r o u n d s . In a d d i t i o n to linguists and i n f o r m a t i o n scientists, the list included c o m p u t a t i o n a l linguists, q u a n t i t a t i v e linguists, specialists in library science, t e r m i n o l o g i s t s , t r a n s l a t o r s , a n d research w o r k e r s in artificial intelligence. There were thirty p a r t i c i p a n t s at the w o r k s h o p , f r o m thirteen c o u n t r i e s : Belgium, D e n m a r k , F r a n c e , the G e r m a n Federal R e p u b l i c , H u n g a r y , Israel, Italy, L u x e m b o u r g , the N e t h e r l a n d s , N o r w a y , Sweden, the U n i t e d K i n g d o m , and the U n i t e d States. An a d d i t i o n a l ten, w h o had accepted the i n v i t a t i o n but were prevented for v a r i o u s reasons f r o m a t t e n d i n g at the last m i n u t e , would have a d d e d Bulgaria, C a n a d a ,

•Academic

Press,

New

York,

1973.

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Introduction Czechoslovakia, India, and the USSR to that list. Several of this latter group contributed significantly to the Workshop, in spite of their absence, through the papers they prepared f o r it. The names and institutional a f f i l i a t i o n s of the participants are provided at the end of the book. In preparation f o r the Workshop, the participants were asked to read a number of documents. For background, they were supplied with Linguistics and Information Science and two retiews of automated language processing that had been prepared for the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (Walker, 1973. f r o m Volume 8, and Damerau, 1976, f r o m Volume 11.* In addition, they received copies of perspective papers written by Derek Austin, J. Goetschalckz, W i l f r e d Lancaster, Wolf Moskovich, Naomi Sager, Petr Sgall, and Teun van Dijk to address the issues raised by the Sparck Jones and Kay book f r o m the vantage points, respectively, of library science, terminology and translation, information science, quantitative linguistics, computational linguistics, linguistics, and the approach to complex semantic i n f o r m a t i o n processing found in recent research on text grammmars. Finally, they were confronted with a challenge paper prepared by Hans Karlgren to delineate some major issues for the Workshop, The challenge paper and the perspective papers constitute the major portion of this volume.** The sessions at the Workshop consisted of focuse'd discussions organized around the issues raised by the source documents. Broadly characterized, the plan for the participants was on the first of the three days to establish the state o f our current knowledge; on the second day to consider the kinds of capabilities that would be desirable in the future; and on the third day to propose research that would provide those capabilities. The discussions reflected the heterogeneity of disciplines represented in the participants, the variety of professional roles they occupied, and the differences in the time frames within which they believed practical benefits should be achieved. Respecting these dimensions of variability, there were clusters of consensus rather than one u n i f o r m view shared by all. Consequently, a comprehensive plan for research did not emerge f r o m the Workshop, although there were steps toward such a plan that both require significant work for further development and show considerable promise for future activities in linguistics and information science. A t the end of the Workshop, Sparck Jones and Kay, the protagonists whose i n i t i a l study motivated and guided its deliberations, decided that they should update their book. The resulting evaluation of "Linguistics and Information Science: After Five Years" provides an effective concluding chapter. The Workshop, in its perspectives, in its challenges, and in its views on relevant research, did capture the breadth and richness of the relationship between linguistics and information science. Correspondingly, we believe this volume, which embodies the substance of that Workshop, will present to its readers, who certainly vary in interests and backgrounds as much as the participants, both ideas and the stimulus to sharpen, perfect, and implement them across the f u l l range of relevant research. There is clearly much to do, but it is equally clear that the benefits to i n f o r m a t i o n science can be substantial.

•The Committee expresses its appreciation to Dr. Fred Damerau, the author, to Dr. Martha Williams, the editor Tor Volume 11, and to the American Society for Information Science, Us publisher, for permission to distribute this review to the Workshop participants in advance of publication. "Some of the authors of the perspective papers included as attachments papers published elsewhere that provided additional material. These attachments arc not included here, but references are provided to them where appropriate in the text.

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Introduction As Chairman of the Committee on Linguistics in Documentation of the International Federation for Documentation, I wish to express my appreciation to the participants in the Workshop and to my colleagues on the Committee, particularly to Mans Karlgren and his KVAL Institute for Information Science for physical, financial, and spiritual support for the Workshop and to Martin Kay for his help in preparation of the manuscript. We are indebted to the International Federation for Documentation, the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U. S. National Science Foundation for direct financial assistance. We also thank the other organizations and agencies that supported the attendance o\ various participants at the Workshop. Donald E. Walker SRI International April 1977

References

Damerau. F.J. "Automated Language Processing." In Williams, M.F., ed., Annual Review of Information Science and Technology^ Volume 11. Washington, D.C., American Society for Information Science, 1976. Pp. i07-161. Walker, D.F. "Automated Language Processing." In Cuadra. C.A., and Luke, A.W., eds., Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, Volume cS. Washington, D.C., American Society for Information Science, 1973. Pp. 69-119.

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