Index language devices in various thesauri: A comparative study

77-92<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="" lang="EN-US">Presents a checklist to compare and contrast different thesauri, such as, Thesaurofacet (TF), Thesaurus of Scientific and Technical Terms (TEST), Engineering Index Thesaurus (EIT), INSPEC Thesaurus (INSPEC), Root Thesaurus (RT) and Energy Information Data Base Subject Thesaurus (EIBST). The concepts "recall" and "precision" are explained and the different recall and precision devices used in the above thesauri are examined. Recall services examined, include, synonym control, term linkage, control of word forms etc. Precision devices, such as, coordination, role indicators, etc are also examined. Suggests also the need to design and develop a thesaurus in the newly emerging discipline called Appropriate Technology (AT), incorporating the various recall and precision devices.