Controlled experiments conducted to compare effectiveness of enhanced experimental computer intermediary system, CONIT, with that of human expert intermediary search specialists indicate that experimental intermediary techniques are now capable of providing search assistance whose effectiveness at least approximates that of human intermediaries in…

As the fourteenth report in a series describing research in automatic information storage and retrieval, this document covers work carried out on the SMART project for approximately one year (summer 1967 to summer 1968). The document is divided into four main parts: (1) SMART systems design, (2) analysis and search experiments, (3) user feedback…

In addition to reviewing the characteristics of document processing systems, this paper pays considerable attention to the description of a system via a feature list approach. The purpose of this report is to present features of the systems in parallel fashion to facilitate comparison so that a potential user may have a basis for evaluation in…

Compares features of selective dissemination of information service in information retrieval systems Quest and Orbit with those of smaller noncommercial system, George 3. Construction of profiles, editing during construction, and editing of stored profiles are noted. Examples of method of constructing and editing a profile in George 3 are…

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food conducted an operational evaluation of the software packages CAIRS and STATUS, which were used to build databases and databanks. Setting up the trial, types of data involved (chemical products used as pesticides), searching and presentation of data, and the final choice are covered. (EJS)

Objectives of this project were to develop and test a method for automatically processing the text of abstracts for a document retrieval system. The test corpus consisted of 768 abstracts from the metallurgical section of Chemical Abstracts (CA). The system, based on a subject indexing rational, had two components: (1) a stored dictionary of words…

This report describes various aspects of generalized or task-oriented programing systems and in particular, how their features can be adapted for retrieval from (typical) information center and library data bases such as those described in a previous report (LI 000 498). It is not meant to be comprehensive in the sense that all such systems are…

The command language features of 11 on-line information retrieval systems are presented in terms of the functional needs of a searcher sitting at a terminal. Functional areas considered are: becoming familiar with the system, receiving help when in trouble, regulating usage, selecting a data base, formulating simple queries, expressing single…