KWIC is an acronym for Key Word In Context, the most common format for concordance lines. The term KWIC was first coined by Hans Peter Luhn. The system was based on a concept called keyword in titles which was first proposed for Manchester libraries in 1864 by Andrea Crestadoro.
A KWIC index is formed by sorting and aligning the words within an article title to allow each word (except the stop words) in titles to be searchable alphabetically in the index. It was a useful indexing method for technical manuals before computerized full text search became common.
For example, the title statement of this article and the Wikipedia slogan would appear as follows in a KWIC index. A KWIC index usually uses a wide layout to allow the display of maximum 'in context' information (not shown in the following example).
| KWIC is an | acronym for Key Word In Context, ... | page 1 |
| ... Key Word In Context, the most | common format for concordance lines. | page 1 |
| ... the most common format for | concordance lines. | page 1 |
| ... is an acronym for Key Word In | Context, the most common format ... | page 1 |
| Wikipedia, The Free | Encyclopedia | page 0 |
| ... In Context, the most common | format for concordance lines. | page 1 |
| Wikipedia, The | Free Encyclopedia | page 0 |
| KWIC is an acronym for | Key Word In Context, the most ... | page 1 |
| KWIC is an acronym for Key Word ... | page 1 | |
| ... common format for concordance | lines. | page 1 |
| ... for Key Word In Context, the | most common format for concordance ... | page 1 |
| Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia | page 0 | |
| KWIC is an acronym for Key | Word In Context, the most common ... | page 1 |
The term permuted index is another name for a KWIC index, referring to the fact that it indexes all cyclic permutations of the headings. Books composed of many short sections with their own descriptive headings, most notably collections of manual pages, often ended with a permuted index section, allowing the reader to easily find a section by any word from its heading. This practice is no longer common.
Read more about Key Word In Context: References in Literature
Famous quotes containing the words key, word and/or context:
“It so happened that, a few weeks later, “Old Ernie” [Ernest Hemingway] himself was using my room in New York as a hide-out from literary columnists and reporters during one of his rare stopover visits between Africa and Key West. On such all-too-rare occasions he lends an air of virility to my dainty apartment which I miss sorely after he has gone and all the furniture has been repaired.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Take the word of experience, I speak the truth: inaction is safest in danger.”
—Silius Italicus (26–101)
“The hard truth is that what may be acceptable in elite culture may not be acceptable in mass culture, that tastes which pose only innocent ethical issues as the property of a minority become corrupting when they become more established. Taste is context, and the context has changed.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)