A report of several comparisons designed to measure the retrieval effectiveness of machined-aided indexing and manual indexing. (Author)

Reports research undertaken to conceptualize, design, and implement a system for automatic indexing, classification and repositing of "text items," which may be any aggregate of information in English Language on a computer-readable media, in a standard format. (Author)

Describes a clustering algorithm designed for dynamic data bases and presents an update procedure which maintains an effective document classification without reclustering. The effectiveness of the algorithms is demonstrated for a subset of the Cranfield collection. (Author)

Describes technique developed as automatic support to subject heading indexing at BIOSIS based on use of formalized language for semantic representation of biological texts and subject headings. Language structures, experimental results, and analysis of journal/subject heading and author/subject heading correlation data are discussed. References…

Describes a study that analyzed the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms used to index the literature of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Subject access to the AIDSLINE database developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is examined, and changes in subject headings that reflect the growth of the field are analyzed. (12…

Summarizes various linguistic approaches proposed for document analysis in information retrieval environments. Topics discussed include syntactic analysis; use of machine-readable dictionary information; knowledge base construction; the PLNLP English Grammar (PEG) system; phrase normalization; and statistical and syntactic phrase evaluation used…

Explains a new methodology for thesaurus design that is specifically geared for use by novice end-users, and describes a faceted hierarchical thesaurus organization which provides an economical information retrieval system in a corporate setting. (Author/LRW)

Proposes a single underlying structure for the production of a variety of computer index displays, using a networking system which represents both concepts and links by nodes. Desirable characteristics of index displays are outlined, and algorithmic extraction of subnetworks for local use is discussed. References are included. (Author/BK)

Review of office filing facility filing and retrieval mechanisms for unstructured and mixed media information focuses on free text methods. Also discussed are the state of the art in handling voice and image data, problems with searching text surrogates to implement free text content retrieval, and work of Project Minstrel. (Author/MBR)

The current state of information retrieval (IR) evaluation is reviewed with criticisms directed at the available test collections and the research and evaluation methodologies used, including precision and recall rates for online searches and laboratory tests not including real users. Automatic text retrieval systems are also discussed. (32…

Discusses indeterminancy of selection of terms by indexers and by inquirers as major factors influencing subject access to documents in document retrieval systems. Five types of interactions between these two indeterminancies are discussed, and a change in traditional method of subject searching is suggested to reduce effect of inter-indexer…

Assesses the impact of current coverage and indexing policies on MEDLINE's retrieval performance in the medical behavioral sciences literature by comparing retrievals in EXCERPTA MEDICA, PSYCHINFO, SCISEARCH, and SOCIAL SCISEARCH. Searches were made with descriptors, cited references, and natural language, and recall, precision, and novelty ratios…

Examines the use of various statistical techniques for generating domain-oriented multiword vocabulary terms for natural language database systems. Conclusions show the vocabulary clustering effect should be considered when making significance calculations and that a simple ratio of subject matter relative frequency to total sample relative…

Examines how informetric characteristics of information retrieval (IR) system databases can be used to help system designers decide what type of file structures would provide the best performance. The development of appropriate models describing database contents is highlighted in this first part of a two-part study. (30 references) (LRW)

This second report on a two-part study on the application of informetrics to information retrieval (IR) system design used models of database contents in a factorial simulation study at the University of Western Ontario. The study explored whether different file structures were better suited for different informetric environments. (32 references)…