The technique described enables an on line computer based information retrieval system to aid indexers by selecting possible indexing terms to be assigned to a new document entering the system. The economic aspect of implementing the technique in a working information retrieval system is considered. (16 references) (Author/MM)

Examines current activities in subject analysis of large bibliographic databases to assist database managers in making cost-effective decisions. Issues addressed include manual indexing aids, automatic indexing, and connecting indexing terms. Several software packages are described, and future research directions are suggested. (58 references)…

Describes automatic information retrieval system designed and built to handle Arabic data. Discusses cost-effectiveness of automatic indexing. Compares retrieval results using words as index terms versus stems and roots. Includes 19 tables; 60 queries using full words and relevance judgments are appended. (JAK)

Methods of automatically generating controlled subject headings and classifications from free indexing in the INSPEC data base were evaluated. (PF)

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…