FWIW we now have three elements in Docbook for this general area:
Abstract
Keyword
Subject
Abstract is prose, Subject is a word or phrase from a controlled
vocabulary, and Keyword is uncontrolled (e.g., for users to search
on with whatever comes into their heads). I will defend these
terms only in the context of Docbook 3.0 (coming out soon), but
we arrived at them (and their enframing constructs, which are a
bit more complex than it is appropriate to mention here) by
examining what we needed by way of metadata for what purposes,
and we definitely need all three, plus IndexTerms.
So, reluctant as I am to add an element, I think there is value
in separating the notions of prose description and keyword/subject.
Regards,
Terry Allen Fujitsu Software Corp. [log in to unmask]
"In going on with these experiments, how many pretty systems do we build,
which we soon find outselves obliged to destroy?" - Benjamin Franklin
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