Designed to provide students of information science with an introduction to British librarian Samuel Clement Bradford's 1934 findings about the scattering of information, this reader on Bradford's Law begins by discussing its use in calculating search procedures in printed bibliographies as well as in databases. The following additional materials…

This review of abstracting policies used by database producers focuses on the degree to which these policies incorporate criteria vital for acceptability of abstracts for free-text searching. Each topic in abstracting policy (abstract type, length, content, and language) is examined to consider its effect on retrieval. (MBR)

Compares "Library Literature" with "Library and Information Science Abstracts" (LISA) and outlines searching LISA on the SilverPlatter CD-ROM. Use of indexes and abstracts to aid information retrieval is explained; abstracting services are described; and five steps in writing an abstract are listed. Abstracts and annotations…

This chapter describes how ERIC addresses the problems resulting from four conditions that make it unique in the indexing field: (1) its subject area includes a wide range of subspecialists; (2) its clientele is extremely diverse; (3) it has a dual retrieval purpose--for both manual and computer access; and (4) its retrieval is challenged by the…