A project at the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources has resulted in the extension of the ERIC database to microcomputer. Small subject-related files for current-awareness purposes are downloaded from the ERIC tapes and are made available for searching with Apple II Plus microcomputers. Since the target audience for this system is…

Reviews current systems designed to help end-users search online databases without the assistance of an intermediary and describes a prototype system which emulates the Deco (the text storage and retrieval system used by Unilever) interface on Dialog and Data-Star. Initial trials of the prototype system are reported. (15 references) (MES)

Presents an overview of the IR-NLI II system, an expert interface that allows users to access online information retrieval systems and that encompasses user modeling capabilities. Highlights include the design of the system, the structure and content of stereotypes that represent typical classes of users, and construction of user models.…

Analysis of the searching behavior of human intermediaries revealed a routine for selection of search keys--free-text or controlled vocabulary--along a decision tree. Examples of decision rules demonstrate that these rules can be automated to significantly enhance the adaptability of intermediary expert systems. Eight sources are given. (EJS)

MINDS (Multiple Intelligent Node Document Servers) is a distributed system of knowledge-based query engines for efficiently retrieving multimedia documents in an office environment of distributed workstations. By learning document distribution patterns and user interests and preferences during system usage, it customizes document retrievals for…

This essay offers suggestions to make online public access catalogs (OPACs) less idiosyncratic and more usable. Discussion covers qualitative difference between online catalog and predecessors, challenge of debunking assumptions, skills for success, maintaining an instructional perspective, catalog development for the people by the people, and the…

In this study, automatic feedback techniques are applied to Boolean query statements in online information retrieval to generate improved query statements based on information contained in previously retrieved documents. Feedback operations are carried out using conventional Boolean logic and extended logic. Experimental output is included to…

Describes prototype system that provides retrieval from hierarchically structured full-text databases such as legal statutes and regulations and engineering standards. Enhanced retrieval is provided through integration of three different access techniques dependent on inherent hierarchical text structure: menu, Boolean combination of keywords,…

This examination of the effectiveness of various methods of cuing users to their location in a videotex information system used five different versions of an electronic edition of a college catalog: "simple" (no cues), "headers" (textual cues), "color" (color cues), "icons" (graphic cues), and…

Describes the components and capabilities of expert systems, discusses the use of such systems in library information applications, and outlines research being done in this area. A project aimed at the development of an expert system for referral services is described in detail, and implications for future research are discussed. (CLB)

Investigation of end-user searching at National Library of Medicine reveals that volume of searching is related to convenient placement of terminal; slightly fewer than half of potential searchers search for themselves; practices of pharmacists and pathologists do not differ in important ways; end-user searchers perform simple searches. (86…

Proposes a "Model of Querying" for users of office filing facilities and discusses its motivation, aspects, attributes, and advantages. A review of current information systems and attempts to combine information retrieval, artificial intelligence, and database management techniques leads to conclusion that no resultant system is adequate…

This study combines quantitative and ethnographic methods to analyze middle-school students' uses and understandings of microcomputers and videotex. As an experiment in teaching library research skills, 27 eighth graders were assigned to search an online encyclopedia in preparation for writing a science theme. The students' operational practices…

This paper describes a study that was undertaken at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to compare the databases selected by 75 inexperienced student online searchers aided by an existing gateway system--INFOMASTER, a version of EASYNET--with databases selected manually by four experienced searchers who were reference librarians from…

The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), an organization charged with providing information services to the Department of Defense (DoD) scientific and technical community, actively seeks ways to promote access to and utilization of scientific and technical information (STI) databases, online services, and networks relevant to the conduct…