Investigates techniques for automatic coding of English language strings which involve titles drawn from bibliographic files, but do not require prior knowledge of source. Coding methods (basic, maximum entropy principle), results of test using 6,260 titles from British National Bibliography, and variations in code element ordering are…

Describes a microcomputer-based string index format generated from concept networks using multiple search terms. Link weighting is highlighted as a method to decide which term appears first so the entry reflects the classification implied by the search specification. The computer software used for this system is briefly described. (Author/LRW)

Enriching factor rotation algorithms with the capacity to conduct repeated searches from random starting points can make the tendency to converge to optima that are merely local a way to catch rotations of the input factors that might otherwise elude discovery. Use of the HYBALL computer program is discussed. (SLD)

Discusses the role of search engines in Web usability and analyzes and evaluates the retrieval effectiveness of various indexing and searching strategies on a new Web text collection. Highlights include preprocessing techniques that might improve retrieval effectiveness; and hyperlinks as useful sources of evidence in improving retrieval…

Discusses information retrieval systems and extracting appropriate keywords from documents and proposes an effective substring search method by extending a pattern matching machine for multi-keywords called delayed keyword extraction (DKE). Also proposes a construction algorithm of the retrieval structure for speeding up the substring search.…

Addresses the problem of systematic biases which affect the way that individuals construct and modify search queries on online retrieval systems, and suggests a searching algorithm that helps to avoid the effect of those biases. (FM)

Discussion of knowledge management for electronic data focuses on creating a high quality similarity ranking algorithm. Topics include similarity ranking and unstructured data management; searching, categorization, and summarization of documents; query evaluation; considering sentences in addition to keywords; and vector models. (LRW)

Presents a model of information retrieval based on plausible inference which suggests that techniques should be found for combining multiple search strategies into an overall assessment of a document's relevance. The results of experiments designed to test this approach using a simple spreading activation search are discussed. (21 references) (CLB)

Explains, with supporting figures and flowcharts of programing logic, two search strategies introduced to the MORPHS System since 1976: one that employs the normal Boolean operators in strings without bracketing or in the form of marked steps, and one that treats a string of keywords as a compound word. (Author/JD)

Describes the theoretical framework of a retrieval system that uses data structures called bitmaps to improve search algorithms for medium-sized systems. Information retrieval systems that contain the full text of the documents are discussed, and the use of inverted files such as concordances for small texts is explained. (24 references) (LRW)

Describes the design of a stemming algorithm for searching Latin text databases. The algorithm uses a longest-match approach with some recoding but differs from most stemmers in its use of two separate suffix dictionaries for processing query and database words that enables users to pursue specific searches for single grammatical forms of words.…

Considers problem of optimal scheduling of Boolean expression (each Boolean variable represents binary outcome of program module) on single-processor system. Optimization discussed consists of finding operand arrangement that minimizes average execution costs representing consumption of resources (elapsed time, main memory, number of…

Reviews Web-search tools available to librarians. Discusses the Clever project, (part of the Computer Science Principles and Methodologies Department at the IBM Almaden Research Center, Silicon Valley, California), an algorithm that finds authoritative sources on the Web; Google technology, based on links between Web pages; Ask Jeeves, a…

Describes SWEAR (Systematic Weighting and Ranking), a powers-of-two algorithm that can be used for searching the World Wide Web or any large database that automatically creates discrete, well-defined result sets and displays them in decreasing order of likely relevance. Also discusses fuzzy sets. (Author/LRW)

Presents a general mathematical framework for information retrieval, in which query evaluation is seen as a mapping from the free term algebra built by query descriptors and weights to the semantic algebra of evaluation value. Competing mathematical models that try to describe how retrieval systems behave are reviewed. (Author/MBR)