Describes a systematic approach to the design of fixed-length, derived, truncated search keys for corporate author records; and a statistical method for predicting the performance of search keys for files of arbitrary size. (VT)

GANDALF (General Alpha Numeric Direct Access Library Facility) is an information retrieval system designed and implemented at the University of New Mexico for the purposes of retrieving abstracts from large abstract data bases, such as the ERIC system. Previous batch-process information retrieval systems for use with the ERIC data base have been…

The author discusses the impact of the "computer revolution" on the field of rhetoric and public address in terms of the potential applications of computer methods to rhetorical problems. He first discusses the computer as a very fast calculator, giving the example of a study that probably would not have been undertaken if the calculations had had…

These proceedings are the fourth in the series of international conferences whose general aim is to provide a broad forum for critically exploring and analyzing library and information science as a discipline and as a field of research from historical, theoretical, philosophical, and empirical perspectives. The papers in this volume cover a wide…

The first phase of an ongoing library automation project at Stanford University is described. Project BALLOTS (Bibliographic Automation of Large Library Operations Using a Time-Sharing System) seeks to automate the acquisition and cataloging functions of a large library using an on-line time-sharing computer. The main objectives are to control…

A study investigated the relationship between the completeness of end users' mental models of an online system and their ability to use the system effectively. Although all of the study subjects were relatively successful, those with more complete mental models tended to have better search results than subjects with incomplete or poor mental…

This report examines the potential impact of optical media--videodiscs, compact audio discs, and optical disks, tapes, and cards--in library related applications. A detailed consideration of the technology includes discussion of the underlying principles, the various forms in which the technology is marketed, production methods and costs, and the…

The ERIC and LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts) databases are compared through a literature review and the analysis of an online search on a topic in librarianship. ERIC emphasizes education and includes serials, monographs, collections, and research reports for their coverage of some aspect of education. LISA is dedicated to topics…

Study, research, and development were undertaken in the first 18 months of a program (Phase I) to design and implement an Information Processing Laboratory for teaching and research in the field of librarianship. Work during this period was concerned with the planning of the Laboratory and its development according to plan. The planning resulted…

In 1965 the Syracuse University School of Library Science held a symposium to explore the nature of the relationship between the structure and transmission of knowledge, on the one hand, and the array of bibliographic devices which have been developed to facilitate access to that knowledge, on the other. Papers presented discussed the need for a…