Describes an exploration system for large image databases. The system, which consists of three stages, allows user to interpret and annotate an image in the context in which that image appears, dramatically reducing the time taken to annotate a large collection of images. Includes 25 figures and two tables. (AEF)

Describes the design of an information retrieval system that permits the personalization of a search by developing a user profile in order to reduce noise and increase the number of relevant items retrieved. The preorientation system is explained and an example using full-text natural language processing tools is presented. (Author/LRW)

Suggests that the principles underlying the procedure used by doctors to diagnose a patient's disease are useful in the design of intelligent information-retrieval systems because the task of the doctor is conceptually similar to the computer or human intermediary's task in information retrieval: to draw out the user's query/information need.…

Describes the design and construction of Resume Automatique a Fragments Indicateurs (RAFI), a system of automatic text summary which sums up scientific and technical texts. The RAFI system transforms a long source text into several versions of more condensed texts, using discourse analysis, to make searching easier; it could be adapted to the…

Investigates engineers' information-seeking practices based on case studies in two organizations. Results show engineers search for documents to find people, search for people to get documents, and interact socially to get information without engaging in explicit searches. Discusses the design task and how computer systems could support searches…

Describes the architecture of an anthropocentric Biomedical Information Management System prototype that is based on a network of computational components, or agents, that expert biomedical users can define, use, and refine to serve their own communication and documentation habits and needs. The innovation of the proposal, the Participatory Design…

Describes the design and implementation of a prototype visualization system, AuthorLink, to enhance author searching. AuthorLink is based on author co-citation analysis and visualization mapping algorithms. AuthorLink produces interactive author maps in real time from a database of 1.26 million records supplied by the Institute for Scientific…

Demonstrates that if the similarity function of a retrieval system leads to a (pseudo-) metric, the retrieval, similarity and Everett-Cater metric topology coincide and are different from the discrete topology; this is the case if documents are represented by lists, using the Jaccard similarity measure. The corresponding metric is the…

A consultation quality control model (CQCM) developed for an expert system (ES) integrated both ES performance measures and end-user judgment values. Simple decision theory concepts were used to design the CQCM. Results show end users belong to different categories characterized by utility functions and the weights they assign to ES consultation…

Reports on the design of an automated query system to help pharmacologists access the Derwent Drug File (DDF). Topics include knowledge types; knowledge representation; role of the search intermediary; vocabulary selection, thesaurus, and user input in natural language; browsing; evaluation methods; and search statement generation for the World…

Describes SALOMON (Summary and Analysis of Legal texts for Managing Online Needs), a system which automatically summarizes Belgian criminal cases to improve access to court decisions. Highlights include a text grammar represented as a semantic network; automatic abstracting; knowledge acquisition and representation; parsing; evaluation, including…

Discusses intelligent filtering systems and describes work in the INFOS (Intelligent News Filtering Organizational System) project designed to automatically categorize data as relevant or irrelevant based on user interests. The filtering is performed by combining keyword-based hill climbing, knowledge-based conceptual representation via WordNet,…

Reviews the literature on the development of full-text electronic libraries in the academic setting. Organizational factors can have impact on electronic library development and ultimate usability. Topics include strategic management, planning and implementation; system specification and design; document provision; user support and training; and…