Describes a framework for building "story traces" (compact global views of a narrative) and "story projects" (selections of key elements of a narrative) and their applications in text understanding and classification. The resulting "abstract story traces" provide a compact view of the underlying narrative's key…

Survey to determine impact of online availability on subscriptions to printed publications found 2-5 percent annual attrition in subscriptions to printed publications over past five years is not related solely or primarily to availability of online databases, and evolution of online databases and printed publications as separate entities is…

Proposes indexing technical information by function and attribute instead of indexing by subject to increase retrieval efficiency. Reasons for the lack of accurate and comprehensive technical product information in databases and the need for an improvement in reference services are discussed. (RBF)

Describes the different approaches taken by the Chemical Abstracts Services database, which abstracts and indexes chemical publications, and the Belstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry database, which produces a collection of critical reviews. The resulting content of the databases and their ability to meet the needs of different users are…

Provides update to 13-year analysis of finances of major database producer noting actions taken to improve finances (decrease expenses, increase efficiency, develop new products, market strategies and services, change pricing scheme, omit print products, increase prices) and consequences of actions (revenue increase, connect hour increase). Five…

In order to permit systematic searching of multiple data bases to satisfy requests in interdisciplinary areas, a mapping of a portion of "Medical Subject Headings" to three other controlled vocabularies has been constructed. (Author)

The author presents a conceptual analysis of the role of bibliographic citations in the control and retrieval of U.S. government publications, and a factual examination of citation forms for government documents as prescribed by eight major style manuals. A discussion of the general purpose of bibliographic citations and the relationship between…

Describes the broad scope of publications and information content in both printed and computer-readable versions of Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI), including special characteristics, growth rates, and the use of CASSI as a union list. A discussion of the uses of CASSI which are possible through searching the computer-readable file…

Discusses strengths of abstracting and indexing services (subject coverage, resolution of language problems, systematic indexing) and summarizes sources, countries of origin, languages, total coverage, and indexing of four scientific and technical services--Biosis, Engineering Information, Inspec, Chemical Abstracts Service. Characteristics of…

This is the second in a series of eight reports of a research study for the National Agricultural Library (NAL) on the effective utilization of bibliographic data bases in machine-readable form. It consists of two parts. The first part defines the basic interaction alternatives and subalternatives open to the NAL with respect to its interfacing…

This document provides primary references (mostly in English) on Chicano topics and a basic strategy for researching topics related to Chicanos. The document suggests beginning with dictionaries and encyclopedias as starting points for research. Journals are the best source for current information on a topic. Several indexes list references to…

This report details the various search methods applicable to the ERIC database through the use of manual indexes available in paper and microfiche form. It provides examples of searches for both documents and journal articles, illustrating the use of ERIC thesaurus terms, subject descriptor/identifier indexes on microfiche, paper indexes, the…

Argues that the major forces related to economic factors that effect the future of secondary services are growth of primary literature and expansion of secondary products; migration of use from print products to tape products; new technology and impact on production of products and services; and redefinition of user as end user. (EJS)

Traces the evolution of Engineering Information, Inc. (Ei), from beginnings in 1884 to present transition from role of traditional publisher of print-based bibliographic abstracts and indexes to provider of computer-based information products and services. Ei's concept of future as one-stop engineering information supermarket is defined. Ten…

Studies an information retrieval system for bibliographic entries or abstracts using queries from the INSPEC database on the FOLIO system at Stanford University (California). Highlights include strategies for distributing indexes across a set of processors and for performing queries in parallel; inverted lists; simulations; local area networks;…