Presents factors for librarians to consider when decision-making about information retrieval. Discusses indexing theory; thesauri aids; controlled vocabulary or thesauri to increase access; humans versus machines; automated tools; product evaluations and evaluation criteria; automated classification tools; content server products; and document…

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…

Describes a user-interactive system for the selection and display of pictorial information stored on microfiche cards in a computer-controlled viewer. (Author)

The background and functional capabilities of Stanford's library automation system and the hardware environment in which it operates are described. Prospects for extending BALLOTS to network use are summarized. (Author/PF)

Question analysis and search strategy development were broken down into nine steps for answering reference questions. These steps were examined for possible mechanization of the answering process. Such automation was not proved feasible. (LS)

The automation of online order retrieval for Chemical Abstracts Service Document Delivery Service was accomplished by shifting to an order retrieval/dispatch process linked to a Unix network. The Unix-based environment, its terminal emulation, page-break, and user-friendly interface software, and later enhancements are reviewed. Resultant increase…

The report summarizes work done in the study of measures for the effectiveness of the performance of large file systems. It consists of six sections: An "Introduction and Summary" which describes the background for the study, the approach taken in it, and summarizes the results; A discussion of the "Forms of Input", which characterizes the basic…

Examines several alternative document summarization techniques to determine which is the most effective for saving time when a human judge must certify the output of an automatic categorization system. That is, how useful is the summarization technique as compared to reading the entire document. Users in this case are molecular biologists wanting…

Describes a microcomputer software system designed at British Library which will interface with existing BLAISE services; e.g., offline editing of records retrieved online, stored search, and data preparation facilities. A technical description, features of system, applications programs, and the CORTEX interface with the mainframe system are…

Presents an interaction model and an experimental method for information retrieval. This automated method helps identify which user and system variables are relevant, which are independent of other variables, and which ranges of the variables are most important. Results show that relevance feedback consistently improves retrieval performance. (AEF)

Describes issues and advances in the design of appropriate inference engines and knowledge structures needed by commercially feasible intelligent intermediary systems for information retrieval. Issues associated with the design of interfaces to such functions are discussed in detail. Design principles for guiding implementation of these interfaces…

A Mathematical Citation Index was started in March 1965 under the auspices of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Computing Facility. Before the compilation of citations for this index could begin, however, it was necessary to produce an index to abbreviations of serial titles in the field of mathematics. T-HE RESULT OF THIS EFFORT…

For those unfamiliar with the Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) an introduction and background section is provided in this 1969-70 annual report. This is followed by: (1) the SPIRES I prototype, (2) developing a production system--SPIRES II and (3) system scope and requirements analysis. The appendices present: (1) Stanford…

On-line retrieval system design is discussed in the two papers which make up Part Five of this report on Salton's Magical Automatic Retriever of Texts (SMART) project report. The first paper: "A Prototype On-Line Document Retrieval System" by D. Williamson and R. Williamson outlines a design for a SMART on-line document retrieval system…

In this fifth course installment, the impact of technological developments on subject access is discussed. Expert opinions concerning trends in online catalogs, information storage, information generation, the user interface, library use of computer technology, subject access to pictorial materials, user friendly access sytems, and quicker access…