The main purpose of the experiment was to answer the question whether broad or narrow terms function most effectively in the retrieval of relevant documents. The answer depends on what the user of the retrieval system wants, his wants being expressed in terms of stated precision-recall preference, or by the exact number of relevant documents he…

Causes of Boolean failures to retrieve relevant MEDLARS index references are: search formulator failed to include important terms, indexer failed to include important terms, and misunderstanding of user's needs. On the evidence of this test the Probabilistic search is at least a partial solution to these problems. (8 references) (Author/NH)

Describes a method of measuring the retrieval performance of book indexes which requires human searchers to base their searching strategies on actual passages from the book rather than on test queries. (FM)

This experiment used five index languages to form nine different index files to the same collection of documents. Each index term, in each language, was treated in two ways: as an independent English term, and as a coded entry in a faceted-type thesaurus which specified relationships between terms. The performance effect of the thesaurus was then…

Some problems arising in the combination of discipline-oriented retrieval systems for the purpose of constructing a specialized retrieval system for a multidisciplinary topic are considered. A compromise solution involving an augmented combined index is suggested. (4 references) (Author/NH)

The first of a series of five papers whose aim is to find a rational basis for indexing and some means to evaluate it. (Author)

This book deals with properties of vocabularies for indexing and searching document collections; the construction, organization, display, and maintenance of these vocabularies; and the vocabulary as a factor affecting the performance of retrieval systems. Most of the text is concerned with vocabularies for post-coordinate retrieval systems, with…

Processes involved in computer searching of information systems are explained, with some caveats for the use of online searching by students and faculty. Among the concerns are overestimates of the efficacy of searching, inconsistency in search services and strategies, and other potential problems of search results' relevance. (MSE)

CITATION INDEXES, IN COMBINATION WITH REGULAR INDEXES, ARE CREATING NEW METHODS OF INFORMATION RETRIEVAL, WHICH USE SOME MEASURE OF CONNECTION OR ASSOCIATION BETWEEN A GIVEN BASE OF ARTICLES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS IN A COLLECTION. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF SUCH A MEASURE ARE--(1) IT SHOULD BE INDIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE NUMBER OF LINKS IN A CHAIN OF…

A procedure for producing a Key-Word-Out-of-Context (KWOC) alerting tool for a specific field of information as a temporary alternative to computerization. (Author/AB)

The Tennessee Research Coordinating Unit (RCU) has implemented a computerized information retrieval system known as "Query," which allows for the retrieval of documents indexed in Research in Education (RIE), Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE), and Abstracts of Instructional and Research Materials (AIM/ARM). The document…

The computer-sorted word index to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), 3rd edition, 1965 (two volumes, two supplements) was developed in 1974 by the Research and Training Center, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin to facilitate use of DOT. The publication contains a 17page index section which refers the user from a…

The report is concerned with the implementation of an on-line information storage and retrieval system for the Rome Air Development Center. This system is to incorporate techniques of automatic document classification for a large document collection in an interactive environment. Following a review of the system design, the implementation of the…

A series of five runs comprised of 20 searches each were carried out in a three-year span of the INSPEC data base. The same queries were processed manually in the corresponding volumes of Science Abstracts, and comparison of the output of each search method exposed reasons for the failures. Emphasis is laid on the fact that a query comprises other…