Co-word analysis offers the possibility of statiscally measuring the associative strength between pairs of keywords and, by using the values found, of mapping the dynamics of a scientific field in a given moment. The identification of clusters of keywords and the analysis of the strength of the links between pairs of keywords in the clusters show the way for important applications, ranging from the building up of special lexicons, to the development of logical tools for optimyzing automatic indexing and retrieval processes, as well as the mapping of the evolution of interest on key topics in scientific research. An application of co-word analysis to identify the scope of the basic terminology related to indexing and retrieval is described.
Basic vocabulary; Indexing; Information retrieval; Infometrical techniques
