Purpose: The paper aims to assess the utility of non-agriculture-specific information systems, databases, and respective controlled vocabularies (thesauri) in organising and retrieving agricultural information. The purpose is to identify thesaurus-linked tree structures, controlled subject headings/terms (heading words, descriptors), and principal…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review on the utilisation of intelligent agent technology in the library environment. Design/methodology/approach: Research papers since 1990 on the use of various intelligent agent technologies in libraries are divided into two main application areas: digital library…

This article examines how finding aids are structured and delivered, considering alternative approaches. It suggests that single-level displays, those that present a single component of a multilevel description to users at a time, have the potential to transform the delivery and display of collection information while improving the user…

Purpose: Searching for information and viewing visual representations of products in e-organisations is a common activity of the e-visitors to these organisations. For example, in e-museums, users are shown images or other visual information of the existing objects. The aim of this paper is to present a tool which supports the effective searching…

In this paper, we propose a syntax-based text retrieval system for on-line language learning and use a fast regular expression search engine as its main component. Regular expression searches provide more scalable querying and search results than keyword-based searches. However, without a well-designed index scheme, the execution time of regular…

This article compares three self-developed subject guides and one commercial online subject guide (LibGuides) to provide information to other institutions which have a plan or are in the process of developing a plan to implement similar services to support online, distance and traditional education. This is a comparison of the current subject…

Reviews past research on user-satisfaction and relevance information systems. Describes an experiment that compares user-satisfaction with retrieved items and the retrieval process with the relevance of the items in resolving user information needs. Results indicate a connection exists between relevance and user-satisfaction with the retrieved…

Describes the EurekaSeek bibliometric technique for automated linked-literature analysis. EurekaSeek uses medical subject headings instead of text analysis in a fully automated search process, thereby eliminating the reliance on expert input during the process of linking literatures. In this paper, EurekaSeek is tested by retroactively examining…

Compares two natural language processing search engines, WIN (WESTLAW Is Natural) and FREESTYLE, developed by LEXIS. Legal issues in natural language queries were presented to identical libraries in both systems. Results showed that the editorials enhanced relevance; a search would be more thorough using both databases; and if only one system were…

In information science, it is important to consider the nature and meaning of theories of aboutness, subject analysis and related concepts, which are closely related to theoretical and metatheoretical issues in information retrieval (IR). A theory of IR must specify which concepts should be regarded as synonymous concepts and explain how the…

Examines the problems of developing a framework and testbed for quantitative assessment of image retrieval effectiveness. To better harness the extensive research on content-based retrieval and improve capabilities of image retrieval systems, this article advocates the establishment of common image retrieval testbeds consisting of standardized…

Introduces a personalization approach in a traditional information retrieval system. Describes extensions of integrating collaboration in personalization in the Web retrieval environment, based on differences in the nature of documents, users and search tasks between traditional and Web retrieval environments. Presents a user-oriented evaluation…

Outlines a view of the changing framework for information retrieval suggested by the Web environment. Speculates about how some of these changes may manifest in upcoming generations of information retrieval systems. Sketches ideas about the broader context of trust management infrastructure that will be needed to support these developments, and…

To assist researchers, practitioners, and students in locating journal articles, books, papers, and reports relevant to all aspects of document design, the Document Design Project staff at Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) is designing and building a computerized reference library using the operating system ZOG. The library will include material…

Compares database update currency, number of hits, elapsed time, number of offline prints or online types, offline print turnaround time, vendor rates, total search cost, and discounted search cost based on vendor discount rates for five simple searches run on three major commercial vendors' online systems. (CWM)