Compares the retrieval performance of a technique for machine-aided indexing using a controlled vocabulary with that of a Key Word Out of Context Index, basing conclusions on the results of 20 subject searches of a database containing summaries of defense management data. (FM)

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

Substantial alterations to a system often have little or no effect on particular collections. This may be due to poor separation of relevant and non-relevant documents. The paper presents a procedure for characterizing this separation, which can show whether proposed modifications of the base system are likely to be useful. (8 references)…

Retrieval performance with automatic term classifications for three test collections has been variable. This paper attempts to discover why. The real difference between the collections is in the separation of relevant from non-relevant documents. The separation is so poor that classification cannot be expected to succeed. (14 references)…

Discussion of automatic indexing in information retrieval systems focuses on attempts to improve the indexing representation produced by the FASIT system. Concept selection and concept grouping are explained; improving disambiguation is discussed; and a retrieval experiment to test the effectiveness of the disambiguation using the cystic fibrosis…

Provides background of automatic indexing and overview of Fully Automatic Syntactically based Indexing of Text (FASIT), a system based on idea that content-bearing words belong to certain syntactic categories. Results of comparison of FASIT with thesaurus and stem-based indexing systems on database of 250 documents and 22 queries are summarized.…

A comparison of the effectiveness of information retrieval based on full-text documents with retrieval based on paragraphs, abstracts, or controlled vocabularies was accomplished using a subset of journal articles with nine search questions. It was found that full-text retrieval achieved significantly higher recall and lower precision than did the…

Describes SAPHIRE, an experimental information retrieval system featuring concept-based automated indexing, natural language input, and relevance-based retrieval; and compares its retrieval effectiveness with other indexing approaches in a Boolean-based searching environment. Indexing in MEDLINE is described, and a test collection of AIDS…

An algorithm is proposed to solve the problem of sequential indexing which does not use any grammatical or semantic analysis, but follows the principle of emulating human judgement by evaluation of machine-recognizable attributes of structured word assemblies. (Author)

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)

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)

This paper describes the process of automatic extraction of implicit--global--data from explicit information by file inversion and threading. Each datum is the symbolic representation of a proposition, and as such has a number of movable parts corresponding to the ideal elements of the proposition represented; e.g., subject, predicate. A third…

Creation of a quarterly keyword index to campus grant projects is the chief investigator's name as the key to a section of project summaries. A third section is also included, listing the summaries under the name of the sponsoring department. (Author)

Provides an overview of current newspaper indexing methods, including discussion of those indexes produced by commercial firms, public libraries, newspapers themselves, and news data banks. (FM)