Describes a new signature file method, called the multiorganizational scheme, for accessing information from large databases containing both formatted and free-text data. Implementation issues are discussed, and computational results based on a mathematical model are presented, as well as results using a library database. (43 references) (MES)

Presents overview of commercially available databases useful to field of mental health. The availability, costs, coverage, currency, update frequency, and access points are compared for four major files--PsychINFO, National Clearinghouse for Mental Health Information, Social SciSearch, and MEDLINE. Forty-nine references are provided. (EJS)

Reviews the subject access literature for 1988 in the format of an annotated bibliography. Topics covered in the review include online subject access, standard subject heading lists, proposed alternatives to subject heading lists, authority work, classification schemes, and new product information. (CLB)

This review of the research on subject access to library collections focuses on the problems of and prospects for improved online subject access to library collections. Summaries of the general findings of studies on library catalog use and catalog users and some reasons for the frequent failure of subject searches in library catalogs are followed…

Discusses the problems involved in assigning descriptors to works of art for online museum catalogs. The topics covered include the subjectivity of the analysis of art, factors that affect the cataloging of museum collections, and the online systems developed by various museums. (17 references) (CLB)

Describes a study that tested the effectiveness of a thesaurus as a search-aid in free text searching of a Finnish full text database. Linguistic and conceptual approaches are discussed; five search modes are explained; recall and precision are examined; and the use of proximity operators is discussed. (Contains 29 references.) (LRW)

A hypertext-based thesaurus is proposed as a navigational aid to the subject domain of a bibliographic database. Implementation of a hypertext version of the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors" with database linking strategies is discussed. (44 references) (EA)

Reports on a study of index term selection techniques in a small experimental keyword information retrieval system. Two experiments are described which show that user success is improved by increasing the number of terms per object used. Implications for larger databases are considered. (22 references) (EAM)

A comprehensive automated authority system in place as a part of an integrated database having the flexibility to produce any catalog format is proposed as a means of making the library catalog--whether manual or online--more responsive to comprehensive authority changes, including standards and practices, and more useful to the library patron as…

Discusses the generalized inverse Gaussian-Poisson (GIGP) process for informetric modeling. Negative binomial distribution is discussed, construction of the GIGP process is explained, zero-truncated GIGP is considered, and applications of the process with journals, library circulation statistics, and database index terms are described. (50…

This article examines the role of authority control in an online environment. Topics covered include a definition of authority control, the relationship between authority control and catalogs, current school of thought regarding the need for authority control, and other models of data administration. Twenty-three references are cited. (Author/EJS)

Search terms and user aids are noted in review of databases covering historical material in the hard and social sciences--U.S. Political Science Documents, ERIC, Language and Language Behavior Abstracts, POPLINE and Population Bibliography, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Child Abuse and Neglect, GEOREF, International Pharmaceuticals Abstracts,…

Discussion of subject access points in databases concentrates on the broader theoretical perspective. Topics include technology-driven stages in the development of subject access points; a taxonomy of subject access points; document titles; abstracts; references and citations; full text; and descriptors, identifiers, classification codes, and…

Describes a study conducted on the cystic fibrosis (CF) database, a subset of MEDLINE, that investigated clustering structure and the effectiveness of cluster-based retrieval as a function of the exhaustivity of the uncontrolled subject descriptions. Results are compared to calculations for controlled descriptions based on Medical Subject Headings…

The emphasis of this text is that the problems of information retrieval are the intellectual ones of subject analysis and description. These problems are not easily solved by technology alone, although certain inroads are being made by knowledge-based expert systems and other computer aids to indexing. Linguistic approaches are also showing…