  Methods for compression and classification of galaxy spectra, which are
useful for large galaxy redshift surveys (such as the SDSS, 2dF, 6dF and
VIRMOS), are reviewed. In particular, we describe and contrast three methods:
(i) Principal Component Analysis, (ii) Information Bottleneck, and (iii) Fisher
Matrix. We show applications to 2dF galaxy spectra and to mock semi-analytic
spectra, and we discuss how these methods can be used to study physical
processes of galaxy formation, clustering and galaxy biasing in the new large
redshift surveys.
