This article provides an overview of and rationale for the use of authority in school libraries--from both an historical and current/future perspective. First, the importance of consistent, meaningful authority term context and form is discussed. Then, the exciting, yet challenging, role of authority in today's information world is…

Reported is a compilation of the data collected from a comprehensive evaluation of the Information Retrieval Center of the Northern Colorado Educational Board of Cooperative Services (NCEBOCS) The evaluation consists of an historical review of the Center (1967-1970), analysis of requests received, user reactions to the services, interviews with…

Large-scale, on-line information storage and retrieval systems pose numerous problems above those encountered by smaller systems. A step toward the solution of these problems is presented along with several demonstrations of feasibility and advantages. The methodology on which this solution is based is that of a posteriori automatic classification…

Information science is a young and rapidly growing field, embracing a wide range of subjects and activities. The conference, in ten technical sessions, attempted to cover various aspects of information work. The areas covered were: information analysis and information analysis centers; retrieval of information; selection, education and training of…

A selective dissemination of information service based on computer scanning of Nuclear Science Abstracts tapes has operated at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, England since October, 1968. The performance of the mechanized SDI service has been compared with that of the pre-existing current awareness service which is based on…

This report describes work concerned with the statistical evaluation of the output of MEDICO automatic indexing procedure. The statistical tests were designed to examine the validity of the assumptions which formed the bases of the indexing algorithms with primary emphasis on the algorithm development for the computation of weights and links. Some…

This paper was prepared to provide a frame of reference to the role of microfilm within the information retrieval world and to provide an opportunity for evaluation of the use of microforms for active retrieval applications. The paper discusses the principles of information retrieval, considers subject and classification indexing, and describes…

Three specific contributions to the field of information retrieval are presented. The first two describe the establishment of an adaptive, interactive man-machine dialogue that produces a form of unsolicited librarian-like assistance for the user in his selection of index terms to characterize an indexing function. The data set upon which the…

Four papers are included in Part One of the eighteenth report on Salton's Magical Automatic Retriever of Texts (SMART) project. The first paper: "Content Analysis in Information Retrieval" by S. F. Weiss presents the results of experiments aimed at determining the conditions under which content analysis improves retrieval results as well…

REACTIONS OF A USER POPULATION (SCIENTISTS/ENGINEERS AND LIBRARIANS) TO AN OPERATIONAL TEST OF AN ON-LINE SYSTEM FOR RETRIEVING DOCUMENT CITATIONS (RECON) WERE STUDIED AT SEVERAL NASA FACILITIES. DURING A TWO MONTH OPERATIONAL TEST PERIOD, DATA WERE COLLECTED REGARDING FREQUENCY OF USAGE AND DEGREE OF SUCCESS ENCOUNTERED IN CONDUCTING ON-LINE…

THE FIRST-GENERATION APPROACH BY CONCEPT (ABC) STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL METHOD, A METHOD WHICH UTILIZES AS A SUBJECT APPROACH APPROPRIATE STANDARDIZED ENGLISH-LANGUAGE STATEMENTS PROCESSED AND PRINTED IN A PERMUTED INDEX FORMAT, UNDERWENT A PERFORMANCE TEST, THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF WHICH WAS TO SPOT DEFICIENCIES AND TO DEVELOP A SECOND-GENERATION…

This paper discusses several of the trends in information handling for text-based storage and retrieval systems that are prevalent in the United States. The paper considers, in particular, specialized information products, cooperative and networking activities, and work on standards. Information products include current awareness abstract…

The report describes a large-scale computerized system for Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) developed over the past five years at the U.S. Army Electronics Command to serve its technical personnel. The system, which uses as its document base the current accessions of the Defense Documentation Center, was developed in three phases: (1)…

To assist the formation of IMS (Instructional Management System) configurations, three categories of characteristics are developed and explained. Categories 1 and 2 emphasize automation, and the necessity of forming workable configurations to carry out instructional management for Southwest Regional Laboratory developed instructional and/or…

As the fourteenth report in a series describing research in automatic information storage and retrieval, this document covers work carried out on the SMART project for approximately one year (summer 1967 to summer 1968). The document is divided into four main parts: (1) SMART systems design, (2) analysis and search experiments, (3) user feedback…