Describes the inability of traditional subject index terms to represent relational information among concepts, and the development of frame based knowledge representation methods that provide relational semantic representations of documents and user queries. The discussion covers research in user interfaces and automatic document classifications,…

Increasingly, machine learning is entertained as a mechanism for improving the efficiency of planning systems. Research in this area has generated an impressive battery of techniques and a growing body of empirical successes. Unfortunately the formal properties of these systems are not well understood. This is highlighted by a growing corpus of…

Discusses the inability of the standard Boolean logic model of information retrieval to deal effectively with the inherent fallibility of retrieval decisions. Recent advances in information retrieval research are reviewed, and their practical potential for overcoming the deficiencies of the Boolean model is examined. (45 references) (Author/CLB)

Describes online catalog research being conducted in Europe in the areas of interaction and interface design, subject access, functional improvement through the application of information retrieval techniques, and library networks. Three operational online catalogs, not available outside Europe, are discussed. (30 references) (CLB)

The PRODIGY/EBL system [Minton88] was one of the first works to directly attack the problem of strategy utility. The problem of finding effective strategies was reduced to the problem of finding effective rules. However, this paper illustrates limitations of the approach. There are two basic difficulties. The first arises from the fact that the…

In machine learning there is considerable interest in techniques which improve planning ability. Initial investigations have identified a wide variety of techniques to address this issue. Progress has been hampered by the utility problem, a basic tradeoff between the benefit of learned knowledge and the cost to locate and apply relevant knowledge.…

Discusses forces at work within today's on-line data base environment which could lead to the emergence of a distributed information network; identifies several important modules in such a network, including an automated subject switching module; and reports research investigations, critical issues, and preliminary findings with regard to…

Outlines a behavioral approach to information retrieval system design based on the derivation of a behavioral model of the information-seeking patterns of academic social scientists. The extent to which identified information-seeking characteristics are supported by existing systems is considered, and requirements for implementing these features…