Examines the knowledge base of an intermediary expert system that provides advice about search term selection. Topics include a proposal for an integrated approach, including an option focusing on terminological attributes based on knowledge acquired from professional searchers; and the content of the knowledge base and the research needed to…

A definition of fiber art, its history, materials and techniques, vocabularies, and creators and users of those vocabularies offer background for understanding the problems in preparing surrogates of this relatively recent art form for text and image databases. Four examples of fiber image information systems are described. (32 references) (EAM)

This brief review of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system is intended to make users more aware of (1) the system as a whole, (2) the process of indexing educational literature for the database, and (3) the role of the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors in the overall information dissemination process. An overview of the ERIC…

The development of the INSPEC vocabulary system which comprises a unified indexing and classification scheme is described together with the reasons for its adoption. (Author)

Discusses three approaches to thesaurus and indexing/retrieval language maintenance for combined databases: reindexing, merging, and initial standardization. Two thesauri for a combined database are evaluated in terms of their compatibility, and indexing practices are compared. Tables and figures help illustrate aspects of the comparison. (SW)

Describes the growth of the INSPEC database developed by the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Highlights include an historical background of its growth from "Science Abstracts"; production methods, including computerization; indexing, including controlled (thesaurus-based), uncontrolled, chemical, and numerical indexing; and the…

Traces the development of "The Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms" from its roots as a term list through six editions to a sophisticated searching and indexing tool, and describes the process for determining controlled vocabulary and forms of display. Features designed especially to assist novice users and nonpsychologists are also…

Describes the development of a thesaurus for indexing the databases of Engineering Information, Inc., that improved the former precoordinate indexing vocabulary with postcoordinate descriptors and an appropriate set of thesaurus relationships. Problems of incompatibility with old indexing are addressed, and the use of an outside consultant versus…

Emphasizes class maintenance of National Library of Medicine's bibliographic retrieval file in which maintenance actions (replacement, deletion, addition) reflect yearly changes in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). File maintenance of other authoritative information attached to headings, class maintenance failures, checking class maintenance,…

Author describes the establishment of archives for the presentation of the artistic heritage of France classified in such a way that each entry has a precise scientific content. (Author/RK)

Describes the organization of the descriptors used in the ERIC database to indicate age, educational, and student levels, and suggests appropriate search strategies for the retrieval of information on specific age groups. (CLB)

Reviews the subject access literature for 1988 in the format of an annotated bibliography. Topics covered in the review include online subject access, standard subject heading lists, proposed alternatives to subject heading lists, authority work, classification schemes, and new product information. (CLB)

Describes a system based on a probabilistic inference network retrieval model that was used to study the retrieval effectiveness benefits of combining types of document and query information that are found in typical commercial databases and information services. Multiple document representations, multiple index representations, and multiple query…

This is the fifth 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. NAL desires ultimately to develop techniques of interacting with other data bases so that queries put to NAL may be answered with documents or document…