The Third Cranfield Conference on Mechanised Information Storage and Retrieval Systems was held on 20-23 July 1971 in Cranfield, England. The report describes a number of the key papers presented at this conference. (Author)

THE REPORT PRESENTS A SUMMARY OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIRST GENERATION OF THE AUTOMATED LITERATURE PROCESSING, HANDLING AND ANALYSIS (ALPHA-1) SYSTEM. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY OF ALPHA-1 AND THE USE OF THIS AUTOMATED LIBRARY TECHNIQUE ARE PRESENTED. EACH OF THE SUBSYSTEMS AND MODULES NOW IN OPERATION ARE…

A framework is developed to evaluate expected search length, an important measure of an information storage and retrieval system's performance, as a function of the size of the information file and its organization in terms of indexing search structure. Previous research pertaining to search length by W.S. Cooper and others is surveyed and…

Project Intrex is a program of experiments intended to provide a foundation for the design of future information transfer systems, with the library of the future visualized as a computer-managed communications network. In order to discover the necessary facts, especially in the area of the user's interaction with the system, experimentation is…

The Design of Information Systems in the Social Sciences project (DISISS) of the University of Bath, England, has recently completed evaluations of three programs: (1) a library staff digest intended to inform personnel of the inner workings of the library; (2) an information system designed to assist professionals and private individuals working…

This report describes the current status of Project INTREX experiments and provides a detailed technical record. Activities concentrating on the bibliographic access problem involve: (1) the investigation of a digitally-encoded, machine-manipulated augmented catalog, for which the task of preparing entries for 10,000 documents is about half…

Document searching systems, such as those in libraries, are comprised of chains of components that transmit information. The components consist of mechanisms for doing classification, indexing, abstracting and cataloging of documents, and for converting users' statements of need to expressions suitable for searching the system. Improvement of the…

The ways in which digital computers can be used in information storage and retrieval are presented in the language of the nonspecialist. Indexing methods, file organization, and search strategies are discussed and a brief bibliography containing 30 IBM publications is given. The manual is intended as a first reader for those interested in the…

The bibliography is a compilation of annotated references on information sciences; conferences, symposia, reviews, supporting research, and STINFO (Scientific and Technical Information Project) activities and is volume IV in a four-volume set on information sciences. It is a revision to the unlimited references in the earlier bibliographies,…

A total of 901 printed materials of several varieties--including books, papers, journal articles, conference reports and other documents--are listed. The majority of the works cited were published within the last few years, but some older materials are included; the collection as a whole is intended for librarians, information specialists, and…

This book provides an introduction to automated information services: collection, analysis, classification, storage, retrieval, transmission, and dissemination. An introductory chapter is followed by an overview of mechanized processes for acquisitions, cataloging, and circulation. Automatic indexing and abstracting methods are covered, followed…