We read with considerable interest the study by Gusenbauer and Haddaway (Gusenbauer and Haddaway, 2020, Research Synthesis Methods, doi:10.1002/jrsm.1378) comparing the systematic search qualities of 28 search systems, including Google Scholar (GS) and PubMed. Google Scholar and PubMed are the two most popular free academic search tools in biology…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had limited effects on access to and use of information. In the last few decades, much information has been digitised, if not created and produced, online. Confined in physical space and sitting at a desk (or kitchen table), people are able to connect to the outside world through various applications on a laptop and other…

Despite recognition that database search alone is inadequate even within the health sciences, it appears that reviewers in fields that have adopted systematic review are choosing to rely primarily, or only, on database search for information retrieval. This commentary reminds readers of factors that call into question the appropriateness of…

We researchers have taken searching for information for granted for far too long. The COVID-19 pandemic shows us the boundaries of academic searching capabilities, both in terms of our know-how and of the systems we have. With hundreds of studies published daily on COVID-19, for example, we struggle to find, stay up-to-date, and synthesize…

Mayer and Trezek offer a rejoinder to an article by Scott, Dostal, and Lane-Outlaw in which Scott et al. challenge the findings and conclusions of a literature review by Mayer and Trezek published in the Winter 2020 "American Annals of the Deaf." Both the rejoinder and the article by Scott et al. appear in the "Annals'" Spring…

Recent technological developments related to the World Wide Web including mobile computing, social media, and online videos are shaping the way we learn. As argued in the present commentary, the majority of educational psychological research that has examined how individuals learn by searching the Web, however, has not kept up with this pace.…

In this article, the author contends that in 10 years, federated search--or search of any kind for that matter--won't exist. He elaborates that the "function" of search will exist--but not in a context with which anyone is familiar today. So if "search" doesn't exist in 2018, how will people find the information that they need across vast volumes…

Creating a tendency for their students to act in a certain manner under a given circumstance is exactly what library media specialists are about. This is something they do teach. They have two main purposes as library media specialists. One purpose is to create and support the love of literature. A second purpose is to develop ethical users of…

Historians of rhetoric and composition need to be more explicit and specific about their investigative methods when reporting their research, states this author. This should be done in a systematic and incremental way that both highlights the uniqueness of archival study and creates the depth and breadth of knowledge required to begin…

With relevance to current students, the author has observed that when commuting by public transport, there is a near complete use of audio-visual devices by the "plugged-in" under 30 age group. New technology, new generation, and new allocations of time to work and study are combining to diminish lecture attendances. Some colleagues refuse to make…

According to signal detection theory (SDT), retrieval warnings may decrease false memory in the associative list paradigm either by inducing a conservative criterion shift or by decreasing the amount of evidence that critical theme words were studied. Fitting a SDT model to 12 existing datasets revealed suggestive evidence that warnings impact…

Discussion of probabilistic information retrieval (IR) systems challenges the probability ranking principle in IR from the perspective of (1) signal detection-decision theory and (2) utility theory. Calibration, certainty, and independent assessment are discussed in terms of the relevance of documents, and standard retrieval policies are analyzed.…

Addresses the application of automatic classification methods to the problems associated with computerized document retrieval. Different kinds of classifications are described, and both document and term clustering methods are discussed. References and notes are provided. (Author/JD)

Replies to Stephen E. Robinson's article on the role of fuzzy set theory in information science (Journal of the American Society for Information Science; v29 n6 Nov 1978), particularly with regard to Robinson's discussions of uncertainty, min/max connectives, and relevance. (FM)

Responds to Barbara A. Cerny's reaction to Robinson's article on the role of fuzzy set theory in information science, addressing Cerny's points about probability theory and statistical uncertainty. (FM)