The Intermediate Lexicon: an aid to international co‐operation

This approach to co‐operation between libraries and information centres considers the use of switching languages. These can be employed in situations where several centres with a common interest wish to co‐operate in the collection and indexing of information bearing material, yet prefer to retain the systems often developed and tailored to their individual requirements. To facilitate the exchange of subject information between the centres, a series of concordances are constructed between each of the indexing languages and the switching language. Thus the translation of subject indexing expressed in the indexing languages of the other participating centres can then proceed automatically. Among the possible benefits are the economic saving due to the sharing by several centres in the collection and indexing of material, and the increase in coverage enjoyed by all the centres. To determine the feasibility of such devices, a switching language, the Intermediate Lexicon for Information Science, has been developed and is under test at the Polytechnic of North London School of Librarianship. The work is supported by a grant from British Library Research and Development Department.