Mr. Bryar has produced a clear and logical exposition. He presents several rules and key concepts for managing a large body of information. The document covers the use of thesauri, subject headings to facilitate information navigation and retrieval. There is one important difference, however, Mr. Bryar employs current information technology language to expound these fundamental themes. His first tenet, given the diversity of electronic document formats, is a compelling case for a common wrapper using meaningful tags.
All indicators point to the use of the XML meta language.
However, the application of XML does not resolve the problem of meaningful retrieval. Its use would result in a standardized presentation of documents, but still retrieval chaos. In order to facilitate information retrieval, and at the same time guarantee the pertinence of the yield, XML must be coupled with a meaningful taxonomy, based on the hierarchical arrangement of subject groupings. Within the subject groupings the researcher must be able to broaden or narrow the search, as well as find related lateral topics. The arrangement of subject hierarchies must be logical, consistent, and expansible.