PRECIS (Preserved Context Index System)

PRECIS (PRESERVED CONTEXT INDEX SYSTEM) ➨ PRECIS is an acronym for PREserved Context Index System or PREserved Context Indexing System. PRECIS is a computer assisted pre-coordinate subject indexing system developed by Derek Austin in 1968 as a result of long research which the Classification Research Group (CRG) undertook to give a new general classification for information control. In 1969 British librarians Derek Austin and Peter Butcher issued PRECIS: A rotated subject index system, published by the Council of the British National Bibliography. This appears to be the first published report on an innovative method for adding subject data in the form of descriptors to the computerized MARC record. This system is considered as the most important development in alphabetical approach to subject specification in recent years.

The system aims at providing an alphabetical subject index which is able to cater to the variant approaches of the users along with their context. In order to achieve this objective, the system arranges the components of a document, into a significant sequence, thus, all the important components in the string are used as approach points. Simultaneously, the terms are displayed in such a fashion that every term is related to the next term in a context dependent way. Moreover, the system is amenable to computer operation, which further adds to the advantage of the system as the entries will be prepared and arranged automatically by the computer.

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