The relevance assessments belonging to the Cranfield II document/query collection are shown to be faulty, in the sense that many" relevant documents were not so identified by the Cranfield judges. 9 references. (Author)

Explores the theory of psychological relevance and its relationship to information retrieval, and provides an extended example. Topics discussed include information need, the search process, the nature of information, topical relevance, relevance judgments and retrieval testing, information retrieval and bibliometrics, and suggestions for further…

Reports preliminary results of a research project that investigated the effectiveness of a new technique for information retrieval interfaces called colinked descriptors, based on the concept of cocited references in the field of bibliometrics. Examples of colinked descriptors from the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors" are presented.…

Introduces a new concept and technique for information retrieval called colinked descriptors. Highlights include bibliometrics and information retrieval, cited references and linked thesaurus terms, cocited references, examples of colinked descriptors in the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors," and experiments that tested the colinked…

Explores scientific inquiry as philosophical and behavioral model for online search specialist and information retrieval process. Nature of scientific research is described and online analogs to research concepts of variable, hypothesis formulation and testing, operational definition, validity, reliability, assumption, and cyclical nature of…

Discusses the traditional Cranfield model for information retrieval (IR) evaluation, problems with the model, and extensions and alternatives to Cranfield; describes emerging themes in IR evaluation, including multiple evaluation dimensions and methods, inclusion of users and other stakeholders in the evaluation process, and various approaches to…

Describes a study that investigated semantic relationships between citing and cited documents for a sample of document pairs in three journals in library and information science. Highlights include comparisons of Library of Congress classification numbers and subject descriptors; implications for collection development and relevance; and…

Views automatic indexing as a two-tiered word frequency analysis that involves selection of a technical vocabulary and identification of document keywords. Assumptions, criteria, evaluation, and relevance are discussed. (JD)

Describes the University of Florida's course, Automated Information Sources and Services, and presents the results of a survey of 46 accredited library schools which indicate that instruction provided in online searching is widespread and growing, but that great diversity exists among library schools in instructional goals and objectives. (CWM)

Findings of study of online searchers' self-supported behaviors and attitudes indicate that: there are wide individual differences among online searchers in attitudes and behaviors; searchers from academic institutions differ from counterparts in other library settings; experience appears to be positively related to flexible, trial-and-error…

Summarizes findings of online searching education survey which obtained data on teaching the use of online technical processing systems for reference service, course content, and other characteristics of consciousness raising instruction, physical resources, methods of financing, and opinions of faculty regarding the future of such instruction.…

Discusses the results of a study of access problems and issues related to scholarly and peer-reviewed electronic journals (e- journals) found on the Internet. Reports data on the accuracy of directory information; accessibility of articles; status of e-journal archives; methods used to retrieve current and back issues; and data formats used by…