Traces the history of ways in which publishers of abstracts journals have provided readers with serial print products, the development of searchable products manipulated by the purchaser, and the economic impact of such products on the publisher. The discussion also covers major improvements needed in online searching systems. (CLB)

Describes the PADOK-II project in Germany, which was designed to give information on the effects of linguistic algorithms on retrieval in a full-text database, the German Patent Information System (GPI). Relevance assessments are discussed, statistical evaluations are described, and searches are compared for the full-text section versus the…

This paper identifies the bibliographic and numeric databases on CD-ROM and computer diskette that should be most useful for investigators in communication, marketing, and communication education. Bibliographic databases are usually found in three formats: citations only, citations and abstracts, and full-text articles. Numeric databases are…

Presents a general overview of the development of Information Science Abstracts. The historical perspective, including the contributions of individuals and institutions, is discussed; its coverage is compared with that of other information science databases; and retrieval capabilities are described. (four references) (Author/CLB)

Presents various levels of criteria for judging the quality of abstracts and abstracting. Requirements for abstracts to be read by humans are compared with requirements for those to be searched by computer. Concludes that the wide availability of complete text in electronic form does not reduce the value of abstracts for information retrieval.…

REDUC is a cooperative network of some 23 associated centers in 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries. The REDUC coordinating center is located in Santiago, Chile. REDUC produces a bibliographic database containing analytical summaries (approximately 800 items annually) of the most important research studies and project descriptions in the…

Describes a study that supported two hypotheses concerning the use of anaphors in information retrieval: first, that anaphors tend to refer to integral concepts rather than peripheral concepts; second, that various term weighting schemes are affected differently by anaphoric resolution. The implications for the use of anaphoric resolution for…

Reports on a study that analyzed 3,746 papers obtained from retrospective searches of the Medline database according to language, length of abstract, depth of indexing, and inclusion of author's address. The focus is on scientific production in Slavonic countries and the information value of Slavonic papers in Medline. (10 references) (MES)

Compares "Library Literature" with "Library and Information Science Abstracts" (LISA) and outlines searching LISA on the SilverPlatter CD-ROM. Use of indexes and abstracts to aid information retrieval is explained; abstracting services are described; and five steps in writing an abstract are listed. Abstracts and annotations…

Discussion of academic bibliographic instruction highlights an exercise in developing critical reading skills by reading and effectively reviewing ERIC abstracts. Topics include rhetoric and writing-based approaches in bibliographic instruction, sentence structure, text assessment, and automated bibliographic tools and interpreting text on a…

The Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation (ERIC/TME) provides researchers and practitioners with bibliographic citations for journal articles, conference papers, and reports on all aspects of educational testing, evaluation, and learning theory. The ERIC system and the ERIC/TME Clearinghouse…

Describes a survey of academic libraries that examined whether the availability of abstracting and indexing services online has resulted in the cancellation of equivalent print subscriptions. The results indicate that subscriptions are being cancelled at a significant rate because of cost and lack of use rather than the availability of online…

ERIC has evolved from a research database into a multi-faceted information system. At the heart of ERIC is the world's largest education database, providing abstracts of more than 850,000 journal articles and documents from a wide range of public and private sources. The system also features a variety of additional products and services designed…

The Simple Index Method overcomes the difficulties in building a core list for serials in interdisciplinary fields by using multiple indexes which cover various aspects of the subject. Collection-development librarians can develop a core list when standard bibliographies or specific indexing and abstracting tools are lacking and can tailor that…

Focusing on materials available at the California State University at Long Beach Library, this annotated bibliography lists resources in seven subject categories pertaining to education: (1) guides to the professional educational literature; (2) books about education research methodology; (3) encyclopedias and dictionaries; (4) tests and…