Background: A priori assumptions about specific behavior in test items can be used to process log data in a rule-based fashion to identify the behavior of interest. In this study, we demonstrate such a top-down approach and created a process indicator to represent what type of information processing (flimsy, breadth-first, satisficing, sampling,…

Preference for autonomous versus directed learning for the acquisition of information competencies (ICs) was analyzed among undergraduate social science students according to gender, degree program, belief in importance, and self-efficacy. Data were gathered using the IL-HUMASS (Information Literacy Humanities Social Sciences) online survey from…

This study investigates the effects of successive and simultaneous information presentation methods on learner's visual search ability and working memory load for different information densities. Since the processing of information in the brain depends on the capacity of visual short-term memory (VSTM), the limited information processing capacity…

Tag clouds generated in social tagging systems can capture the collective knowledge of communities. Using as a basis spreading activation theories, information foraging theory, and the co-evolution model of cognitive and social systems, we present here a model for an "extended information scent," which proposes that both collective and individual…

The successful detection of a target in a radiological search can reduce the detectability of a second target, a phenomenon termed "satisfaction of search" (SOS). Given the potential consequences, here we investigate the generality of SOS with the goal of simultaneously informing radiology, cognitive psychology, and nonmedical searches such as…

The present study investigated the effects on learning in a sheltered Internet environment using so-called WebQuests in elementary school classrooms in the Netherlands. A WebQuest is an assignment presented together with a series of web pages to help guide children's learning. The learning gains and quality of the work of 229 sixth graders…

Reports an experiment in which verbalized tape-recorded searches on five subject indexes reveal the linguistic processing taking place. Extracts from the search transcriptions are given, and the search processing modes of seeking, scanning, and screening are discussed. (Author/KP)

Science Citation Index'' and several new Chemical Abstracts''' indexes are discussed as effective tools for retrospective literature work and a comparison is made of the features of Chemischer Informationsdienst,'' Index Chemicus,'' Chemical Titles,'' and Current Contents'' as the main sources of current chemical information. (9 references)…

The program is a general purpose information retrieval program which can be used with a file of fixed format documents. Designed to be used by noncomputer personnel, the program provides flexibility in search requests and output format, which enable it to satisfy users' requests for information promptly and inexpensively. To insure easy adaptation…

The direct-chaining technique of hash coding is generalized in a manner that is useful for storing records on the basis of non-unique search keys. Two hash functions are used, a process implying a tree structure. Two models, one involving unique and the other non-unique keys, are presented. (7 references) (Author/KE)

This report discusses an experimental inquiry into the nature and use of context data. The objective is to explore the implications of a system incorporating context data and, ultimately, to test the utility of context data for meeting the needs of users of information systems. The result of this inquiry has been the establishment of a context…

The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre is concerned with the retrieval, evaluation, synthesis, and dissemination of structural data obtained by diffraction methods. This paper describes the use of a computer-based file system of both bibliographic information and numeric data to produce a compendium of interatomic distances. (10 references)…

A new, universally applicable computer program is described for the whole complex of punched card oriented literature documentation. Its characteristics are: modular construction, therefore easily adapted to user-specific problems; extremely high searching capacity; comprehensive and elastic syntax makes possible new unconventional methods of…

WISE is an on-line, interactive information retrieval system designed to operate on key-word-oriented data bases. The WISE user searches a data base by entering and combining key-words that are appropriate to the data base and the subject matter. The user also enters certain command statements to enhance the results of the search and to control…

The General Information Processing System (GIPSY) of the Merrick Computing Center is a user dominated system. It can be used to manipulate and retrieve both numeric and alphabetic material. One of its most interesting uses is in the selection and retrieval of records and documents or of selected entries from records and documents. It has been used…