At the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, a computer system indexes word combinations in research summaries, according to a Classifying Dictionary, prior to review by the professional staff. (Author/PF)

The technique for machine-aided indexing developed at the Defense Documentation Center (DDC) is illustrated on a randomly chosen abstract. Additional text is provided in coded form so that the reader can more fully explore this technique. (2 references) (Author)

Describes a framework for building "story traces" (compact global views of a narrative) and "story projects" (selections of key elements of a narrative) and their applications in text understanding and classification. The resulting "abstract story traces" provide a compact view of the underlying narrative's key…

Investigated the relative merits of searching on titles, subject headings, abstracts, free-language terms, and combinations of these elements. The combination of titles and abstracts came the closest to 100 percent retrieval. (Author/PF)

Proposes indexing technical information by function and attribute instead of indexing by subject to increase retrieval efficiency. Reasons for the lack of accurate and comprehensive technical product information in databases and the need for an improvement in reference services are discussed. (RBF)

Discusses strengths of abstracting and indexing services (subject coverage, resolution of language problems, systematic indexing) and summarizes sources, countries of origin, languages, total coverage, and indexing of four scientific and technical services--Biosis, Engineering Information, Inspec, Chemical Abstracts Service. Characteristics of…

Discusses the status of a pilot project undertaken by the ERIC facility to provide access to education-related statistical tapes. Procedures developed for the identification of sources of such tapes, documentation for the tapes, and the creation of surrogate records for cataloging, indexing, and abstracting are described. (seven references) (CLB)

This research project was motivated by results of earlier work (Katzer et al., 1982) on the overlap among document representations. In the earlier study, one representation used in the INSPEC database proved to perform unexpectedly well in comparison with other commonly used representations, such as controlled vocabulary or free-text terms from…

To assess value of abstracts in online information retrieval, this study attempts to match free-text search phrases to index terms and provides classification of documents indicating form of retrieval to be expected by searching three databases--Energyline; Management Contents; and America, History and Life. Results of a sample search are…

This is the fourth in a series of eight reports of a research study for the National Agricultural Library (NAL) on the effective utilization of bibliographic data bases in machine-readable form. It describes the general functional and software requirements of an NAL system using external sources of bibliographic data. Various system design…

Reports on the design and use of a computer system designed to assist online database searchers in determining the relevance of downloaded abstracts. The system, which runs on a personal computer, includes aids for individual review of abstracts and semiautomatic determination of relevance; prospects for fully automatic use are discussed. (CDD)

Discussion of subject access points in databases concentrates on the broader theoretical perspective. Topics include technology-driven stages in the development of subject access points; a taxonomy of subject access points; document titles; abstracts; references and citations; full text; and descriptors, identifiers, classification codes, and…

A study of 1264 incidents of journal mutilation at New York University indicates no relationship between the availability of indexing and abstracting services on CD-ROM databases and mutilation. Recommends posting warnings; raising awareness; providing adequate photocopiers, change, and vendor card machines; announcing closing time; encouraging…

Describes Information on Demand, an information broker that provides database and manual research on a fee for service basis, and accesses more than a dozen online systems. Relative strengths and weaknesses of particular systems and the criteria used to select databases and online vendors are identified and discussed. (CLB)

Describes document acquisition, selection, indexing, and abstracting and discusses online searching of the CIS database, an online system produced by the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre. This database comprehensively covers information in the field of occupational health and safety. Sample searches and search…