Requirements are discussed for an information retrieval language that enables users to employ natural language sentences in interaction with computer-stored files. Anticipated modes of operation of the system are outlined. These are: the search mode, the dictionary mode, the tables mode, and the statistical mode. Analysis of sample sentences…

The Maryland Refutation Proof Procedure System (MRPPS) is an interactive experimental system intended for studying deductive search methods. Although the work is oriented towards question-answering, MRPPS provides a general problem solving capability. There are three major components within MRPPS. These are: (1) an inference system, (2) a search…

This report describes for the potential user a set of procedures for processing textual materials on-line. In this preliminary model an information analyst can scan through messages, reports, and other documents on a display scope and select relevant facts, which are processed linguistically and then stored in the computer in the form of logical…

FRED (a Front End for Databases) was conceived to alleviate data access difficulties posed by the heterogeneous nature of online databases. A hardware/software layer interposed between users and databases, it consists of three subsystems: user-interface, database-interface, and knowledge base. Architectural alternatives for this database machine…

An experiment is described for determining the vocabulary and grammar of user retrieval requests in natural English as a guide in the design of a language for man-machine communication through a typewriter console. This experiment tested written dialog in follow-up to an experiment that tested oral dialog. Subjects repeated behavior observed in…

An experiment is described for determining the vocabulary and grammar of user retrieval requests in natural English as a guide in the design of a language for man-machine communication through a typewriter console. Results of ten question-answer dialogs are discussed. In oral communication, initial requests were most frequently declarative and…

Reports on the development of the Individualized Instruction for Data Access System (IIDA), a computer system designed at Drexel University, which serves as an intermediary enabling users to perform complex tasks on another computer. Capabilities of the instruction mode and assistance mode are discussed. Fifteen references are cited. (EJS)

Discusses intelligent front-end processors designed to impose uniform standards on multiple databases and assist searchers, including motivation for development, prototypes from research community, commercial systems using microcomputers, capabilities and problems encountered in developing Franklin Institute's Online Database Search Assistance…

Sketches history, design, and future plans of VUBIS (joint development of VUB--Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Free University of Brussels, and IS--Interactive Systems, Inc.), an online, user-friendly, public access library system for a European academic library. Search capabilities, cataloging subsystem, and software are discussed. Thirteen references…

On-line retrieval system design is discussed in the two papers which make up Part Five of this report on Salton's Magical Automatic Retriever of Texts (SMART) project report. The first paper: "A Prototype On-Line Document Retrieval System" by D. Williamson and R. Williamson outlines a design for a SMART on-line document retrieval system…

Testing in an industrial setting of the Individualized Instruction for Data Access System--an intermediary system designed to train and assist users in conducting computer searches--demonstrates that end users can learn to do bibliographic searches through computer-assisted instruction that are as satisfactory as searches performed for them.…

The trend toward on-line utilization of computers in recent years has included the emergence of computer support systems to fill the information processing needs of individuals engaged in scientific research. In this study, a new approach to document description is applied to the design of a personal information storage and retrieval system,…

IN GENERAL, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS CAN BE FOUND ALONG A CONTINUUM OF ABSTRACTION FROM THE SPECIFIC TO THE GENERAL. THERE IS, AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOLUTION, A MOST EFFICIENT OR OPTIMUM STRATEGY. IN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION IS USUALLY OBTAINED, AT A MORE SPECIFIC RATHER THAN AT A MORE ABSTRACT LEVEL. THE…

Strategies, heuristics, and tradeoffs involved in online searching of bibliographic citation networks are discussed using results from field of citation analysis to describe mathematical structure of citation networks. Discussion of two studies of human information seeking behavior examines the search question and interconnectivity of the…