Following academic globalization, successful integration into the international research community is a fundamental interest for all participating countries. The success of these internationalization processes, however, are often under scrutiny, and the results are rarely unequivocal. This holds true for Central and Eastern Europe, which usually…

Examines how online versions of databases vary on different systems. Differences are grouped into three categories: obvious differences, including easily available information such as updating, dates covered, and price; database choice, including subfile structure, field structure, and content; and system choice, including support and system…

This user ratings survey focuses on bibliographic citation management software; its value to manage citation databases; and its ability to provide reports that adhere to standard bibliographic styles for publications. Service and support, reliability, ease of use, vendor integrity, and user satisfaction are discussed for each of seven software…

Provides an overview of methods for improving the effectiveness of Boolean retrieval systems, including document clustering, relevance feedback, weighted term searching, ranked output, and fuzzy set theory. The discussion of experimental studies with the SMART and SIRE systems focuses on the implementation and results of these methods. (69…

Describes a survey of library systems and software vendors that examined the sources, management, and use of authority records in their systems and the functions of an authority control module within an integrated system. Several tables and graphs offer summaries and comparisons of vendors' offerings and capabilities. The questionnaire used is…

Examines the topic of Fuzzy Set Theory to determine the overlap of coverage in bibliographic databases. Highlights include examples of comparisons of database coverage; frequency distribution of the degree of overlap; records with maximum overlap; records unique to one database; intra-database duplicates; and overlap in the top ten databases.…

Describes a study of Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings that examined 1,000 records from the LC BOOKSM database (i.e., bibliographic records of monographs cataloged by LC) to determine current subject cataloging practices at LC. The process of constructing subject headings with free-floating subdivisions is discussed, and recommendations…

This study examined the publishing sources of a sample of 833 documents relevant to library and information science (LSI) that were retrieved across 55 databases. The results confirm the interdisciplinary nature of LSI and demonstrate that relevant articles are often published in journals of other fields. A list of 160 non-LSI journals is…

Reports on the design and implementation of PBS (Parsing, Boolean Recognition, Stemming), a software module used in conjunction with an intermediary program to interpret natural language queries used for online database searching. Results of a test of the initial version, which is designed for use with bibliographic files, are reported. (13…

This test of the Strategy of Unlimited Aliasing, an indexing method that places terms from several indexers for the same information object in one index, utilized bibliographic records from the ERIC, LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts), and ISA (Information Science Abstracts) databases. The test did not support the indexing method.…

Describes research which examined whether there are clusters of non-library and information science (LIS) databases that contain citations of interest to LIS researchers, the conceptual relationships of those databases, and approaches to gathering data that might be used to develop search paths and database selection guides on particular LIS…

Explores the 1988 "Books in Print Plus" (BIP Plus) CD-ROM database to determine broad characteristics of material currently in print in U.S. book trade in terms of publication year; price; language; and audience, grade level, and illustration. Accuracy and potential of BIP Plus as a tool for generating data and testing hypotheses…

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 initial steps in performing linguistic analyses on textual material found in a bibliographic database and suggests that useful data can be provided for information retrieval systems by using research methods from linguistic inquiry. Searches of noun phrases in the ERIC database are described, and further research is suggested. (10…

Describes a study that explored differences in users' and nonusers' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of online bibliographic searching. The discussion covers the relationship between perceptions about online systems and decisions to use such systems, and the implications of user perceptions of benefits of online searching for user…