These short essays were written for IS530 Assignment 1. I'll post the questions later, I can't find the original assignment file at the moment.
1. Access methods are guides to the contents of a set of data, acting as a point of entry to the information within. In a general sense, there is not a lot of variation among access methods, which makes them easily understandable when a user is faced with a new source. Unlike a computer program where one may have to learn an entirely new set of commands, once one has a basic familiarity with a print access method, one can apply that knowledge to new sources. A subject index will be arranged alphabetically whether the subjects covered are mythological, culinary, cinematic, etc. An encyclopedia or dictionary will have the entries arranged alphabetically regardless of what the entries contain. Once a person knows how to use a table of contents, they can figure out another table of contents. It may be arranged alphabetically, chronologically, or by subject in a logical order, but the basic format of a table of contents remains the same: primary divisions in the book (i.e. chapters) are listed with the corresponding page numbers in the order of their appearance. Alphabetical arrangements may be done word-by-word (wherein an entry that is two words would fall before a longer entry that begins with the first word; for example, North Carolina would be listed before northern) or letter-by-letter, which treats the entire entry as one word (for example, beads would come before bead stringing), however, the differences between the two types of alphabetization are relatively small and would not pose an unconquerable obstacle to a user looking at the source for the first time.
2. Dictionaries and encyclopedias have very similar access methods. Both will have entries arranged alphabetically and generally will not have an index or a table of contents, except for the contents being a preface and the rest of the book. They are similar to an index, in that all are arranged alphabetically. Directories are also arranged alphabetically as a general rule, although they often also contain indexes to allow the entries to be looked up from a variety of access points. A table of contents is typically the same no matter what type of source it is found in, listing chapters or topics and the associated page number. An alphabetical arrangement remains the same regardless of what is being alphabetized; thus an index is an access method that remains the same no matter what source it is a part of. It is also found at the end of the book in all types of sources. Indexes by author, title, or subject are similar because all still have an alphabetical arrangement and are found at the end of the book.
3. A table of contents differs from an index in that an index is always arranged alphabetically and a table of contents is arranged in order of appearance within the text, whether that be by subject, chronologically, or alphabetically. Some reference sources will have indexes of various kinds while others do not need them because the entire contents of the document are arranged alphabetically, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia. Encyclopedias and dictionaries have very different access methods than geographical sources. A map does not generally have either a table of contents or an index, unless a collection of maps are arranged into book format, in which case it may contain one or both. However, the map itself will have a legend as its access method. The legend describes how to read and use the map and serves as an access point to the information in the map.
4. The user interface can mean the way the source appears to the user, such as the layout of the text and images; or the intended method for the user to access the information within the source, such as an index or table of contents. The latter definition of interface may also be more blatantly described, such as a guide to using a directory labeled as “How to Use this Directory.” The user interface in a print source is generally fairly user-friendly through a sense of familiarity. A book is a very common institution in our culture and has been for quite a long time. Our society encourages the use of books from the age of schoolchildren, and so generally they do not feel intimidating as many new computer programs do; the user interface of a print source feels intuitive and natural to a reader. We know that in most books we will find the table of contents at the front, the subject matter in the middle, and the index at the back. While there is variation, it is generally not to the extent that it causes the access methods to become opaque. User interfaces of print sources have an almost superficial air; while the layout of the contents may appear fresh and different from other sources, the basic format of the book is the same: the table of contents, the actual contents, and the index.