Introduction: This paper presents an initial proposal for a formal framework that, by studying the metric variables involved in information retrieval, can establish the sequence of events involved and how to perform it. Method: A systematic approach from the equations of Shannon and Weaver to establish the decidability of information retrieval…

This study was carried out in the framework of continuous professional development (CPD) programmes following a CPD model aimed at promoting "accomplished practice" involving: pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and scholarship of teaching. Teachers were asked to bring evidence about their practice.…

A threshold rule is analyzed and compared to the Neyman-Pearson procedure, indicating that the threshold rule provides a necessary but not sufficient measure of the minimal performance of a retrieval system, whereas Neyman-Pearson yields a better apriori decision for retrieval. (Author/MBR)

Reports experiments with a term weighting model incorporating relevance information in which it is assumed that index terms are distributed dependently. It is argued that, if high recall searches are required, relevance feedback based on the modified dependence model may be superior to the Boolean search. (Author/VT)

The transfer of information through space and time in communication systems is often accompanied by significant delays which give rise to meaningful storage problems. Mathematical models have been developed for the study of these kinds of problems which are applicable to the design of manual, library-type, or mechanized information storage and…

The simulation model described is used as a tool for designing and evaluating literature search systems. The simulation program creates a well specified collection of documents and analyzes the effect of charges in query file characteristics on system output performance. (14 references) (Author/KE)

This document first outlines considerations relative to a systems approach to evaluation, and then argues for such an approach to the evaluation of information retrieval systems (ISR). The criterion of such evaluations should be the utility of the information retrieved to the user, and the ISR ought to be regarded as one of three interrelated…

A general model for information storage and retrieval (IS&R) systems is proposed. The system is selected from the set of all available IS&R components. These components define the system's users and data sources; the hardware, software, and personnel performing the actual storage and retrieval activities; and the funder who acts as a filter in the…

The Florida R & D Utilization Project has two major goals: to provide schools with access to the best available R & D products and practices to resolve local needs, and to assist schools in developing a capacity for diagnosing and resolving instructional and other problems. This paper describes the 7-step conceptual model that governs the…

Demonstrates, with an example, a relatively simple method for fitting Bradford's law to empirical data to estimate the number of journals and articles in a subject collection. An exact discrete formulation illustrates Bradford's law as a special case of the Zipf-Mandlebrot "rank frequency" law. (Author/RAA)

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…

Explores the potential impact of imposed query, a new model of information-seeking behavior, on current approaches to library service and system evaluation. Discusses reference service evaluation, user studies, output measures, and relevance as an evaluation tool. Argues that imposed query broadens understanding of the user and of the role that…

THE ABC (APPROACH BY CONCEPT) SYSTEM FOR STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO AN EXTENSIVE PERFORMANCE TEST. IN LI 000 318 THE TEST PROGRAM AND SETUP WAS DESCRIBED AS WELL AS THE METHODOLOGY, AND IN THE SECOND REPORT, LI 000 317, A PRELIMINARY STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF THE TEST RESULTS WAS GIVEN. THIS…

The symposium focused on advances in techniques in the computer oriented technology of information retrieval. Early developments and the status of recent efforts in document retrieval, question answering and data management systems are briefly reviewed. Unless fundamental processing techniques are developed and made available to workers,…