Our main consideration in designing the REF_CODE was to make its definition as objective as possible. This helps to avoid having the history of data entry affect the naming system; allows automatic coding to some extent; avoids confusion, conflicts, and ambiguities in its meaning; lets different individuals or teams construct REF_CODEs without having to resort to constant consultation on the details of the code; and facilitates exchange between databases (e.g. NED and SIMBAD).
The standard code is a string 19 characters long, a combination of
fields, some numerical and some alphabetic, exactly predictable for
journal articles, but not necessarily for books. The format is as
follows, with the various fields explained below. Blank spaces within
the string are replaced with periods, and no leading zeros are allowed in
volume and page numbers.
For multi-volume books, catalogs, and reports, the volume number is
given in the last two digits.
One class of
ambiguities results when there are two or more independent page sequences
within the same volume number, in which case the following codes are
reserved for this field:
Another class of ambiguities results when there are two or more
articles on the same page, as in Nature.
Such articles starting on the
same page are numbered sequentially in their order of appearance,
and a code corresponding to this order is inserted in
this field.
In that case, the code has values
Here are some examples to illustrate the use of the reference code:
The Bibliographic Reference Code is a domain-specific code which was designed
to be sufficient for the immediate needs of
astronomy in uniquely, succinctly, and informatively
identifying bibliographic references. Nevertheless, the
REF_CODE proved to be general enough to encompass most
of the existing astronomical literature.
But these REF_CODEs were not
explicitly designed to be so general that they were guaranteed to
automatically encompass all presently available media, nor do they
necessarily fully anticipate future directions in publishing.
In combination with a descriptive reference database, the
cryptic form of the REF_CODE can be (and is) attached to a more extensible
information listing. For instance, while the REF_CODE carries
only the first page number of a reference, the Reference Database
carries the first and last page numbers of the article. Obviously, the same
qualifications apply to titles and authors which are highly
abbreviated in the REF_CODE, but more fully represented in the
Database.
The same principles could be used to fully link a REF_CODE
to data cubes, CD-ROMs, external databases, animations,
simulations, time-tagged data, etc. While the Reference Code is
compact, it is not yet saturated; there are still fields with
room for added pointers to the new directions that the publishing of
astronomical data may take in the immediate future.
We thank Helmut Abt and the rest of the NED and SIMBAD groups
for their help in defining the reference codes.
Table 2 has been prepared
with the kind help of Suzanne Laloë at
the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris.
NED is a research support program operated by the
Jet Propulsion LaboratoryJPL,
California Institute of Technology,
under contract with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (Astrophysics Division, Science
Operations Branch). SIMBAD is maintained by the Centre de Données
astronomiques de Strasbourg, France.
Reference Coding: Definition
For Theses, this field contains the author's
first initial.
1983ARA&A..21..177S Stein and Soifer. 1983, Ann. Rev. Astron.
Astrophys. 21 177.
1988ApJ...324..767W Ward et al. 1988, Astrophys. J. 324 767.
1988ApJS...66..183J Jura. 1988, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 66 183.
1988PASP..100..625S Sandage. 1988, Publ. Astron. Soc.
Pacific 100 625.
1988Natur.331.6157B Bergvall. 1988, Nature 331 6157.
1976ApJS...31..187D Dressel and Condon. 1976, Astrophys. J
Suppl. 31 187.
1978IAUC.3305....1K Kowal, Lo, and Sargent. 1978, IAU Circ
No. 3305
1988A&A...206L..23M Maurogordato et al. 1988, Astron
Astrophys. 206 L23.
1984IRSD..R....118G Gatley. 1984, in Lab. and Obs. IR Spectra of IS Dust
proc. of the Hilo Workshop, July 1983, ed.
Wolstencroft and Greenberg, p. 118.
1909UCB...T00E....F Fath, E. A. 1909, The Spectra of Some
Spiral Nebulae and Globular Star Clusters
thesis, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley.
Conclusions
Acknowledgments