Text Analysis: Session Introduction

(3) Classlflcation--identify the t e x t as similar to and different from other texts in relation to a see of predetermined categories; this operation establishes the position of the text In.some more general fr~unework. (4) Modlfication--~hange the wording of some p a r t of the text; thls operation corresponds to Note that generation, the creation of the text itself, i s presumed f o r this d i s c u s s i o n , and that translaclon of a ~exC turn another language ls also nor i nc l uded . the casks o f r e w r i t i n g p a r t s o f the t e x t as w e l l as making c o r r e c t i o n s ; i t begs the quasClon o f when the m o d i f i c a t i o n i s s u f f i c i e n t l y l a r g e to r e s u l t in c o n s i d e r i n g the t e x t to be new. (5) C o n v e r s i o Q C r a n s f o r ~ c o n t e n t e l e m e n t s from the t e x t i n t o some o t h e r n o n t e x t u a l o r a t l e a s t n o n s e q u e n t i a l s t r u c t u r e ; i n t h i s o p e r a t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n i s e x t r a c t e d from the t e x t and r e o r g a n i z e d a c c o r d i n 8 to e x t e r n a l l y d e t e r m i n e d c r i t e r i a . (6 ) D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n l o c a t e p a r t i c u l a r c o n s t i t uen ts t r t ch /n a t e x t ; t h i s o p e r a t i o n f i n d s chose elements Chat who l ly o r p a r t i a l l y march a g i v e n s p e c i f l e a C£on. I t shou ld be c l e a r , on r e f l e c t i o n , t h a t these o p e r a t i o n s o v e r l a p i n complex ways; some presume o t h e r s ; moreover , t h e i r e f f a c e s ere s t r o n g l y c o n t e x t dependen t , r e f l e c t i n g the pu rpose and the p a r t i c u l a r f ramework f o r the a n a l y s i s . While I make no s a r o n g c l a i m s f o r t h e i r u t i l i t y , I b e l i e v e cha t i t i s i m p o r t a n t f o r the f i e l d to d i s t i n g u i s h the d i f f e r e n t k inds of t h i n g s t h a t peop le want to do w i t h t e x t s . The s i x p a p e r s i n c l u d e d in the s e s s i o n s on t e x t a n a l y s i s aC t h i s con fe rence i l l u s t r a t e the beginnings of a technology that will allow us to a d d r e s s some of the u n d e r l y i n g i s s u e s . Three of them dea l wlth the problem of conversion; specifically, they show how information can be extracted from a text and formatted for storage ~n a d a t a b a s e . In " S p e c i a l i z e d i n f o r m a t i o n e x t r a c t i o n : auComaClc chemica l reaction coding from English descriptions," Larry H. Reeker, Elaine M. Zamora, and Paul E. Blower presen t a system t ha t e x t r a c t s information on chemica l reactions from the experimental sections of papers in specialized chemistry Journals, converting l~ Into a format that chemists use to identify that kind of data. James R. Cowle, in his paper "Automatic analysis of descriptive texts," describes a system for interpreting texts that contain stylized descriptions, like t h o s e in c a t a l o g u e s and directories. He shows how examples from a field guide Co wild flowers can be processed to Identify attributes characteristic of plants, which are then sco red i n a canonical form.