Describes the Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) system, an integrated information retrieval system for corporate end users. Discussion covers general characteristics of the system, search techniques, protocol development, user interfaces, servers, selective dissemination of information, nontextual data, access to other servers, and description…

Describes the development and installation of a hypermedia system for student use at the University of Texas Pan-American library that provides information about the library's resources as an alternative to existing printed materials. Highlights include selecting an authoring tool and computer hardware and the development of an icon-based system.…

Describes the use of Spotfire, a starfield visualization tool, to generate interactive visualizations of log data, ranging from aggregate views of all Web site hits in a time interval to close-ups that approximate the path of a user through a site. Highlights current efforts and provides examples of the visualizations created in Spotfire.…

Describes the Cetus Corporation library's online information system, called ISCLine (Information Services Center Line). Menu options are explained, system maintenance is described, the use of the system by employees and staff is examined, and future possibilities are considered. A sidebar by Diana L. Ziegler describes programing procedures for…

Digital libraries are moving from research and development into commercial use. If they are to realize their full potential, however, the experiences of end users need to be taken into account from the earliest stages of design. Those end users are typically individuals who have no particular skills in information retrieval, and are accessing…

Presents a guide for selecting an optional disc system. Highlights include storage hierarchy; standards; data life cycles; security; implementing an optical jukebox system; optimizing the system; performance; quality and reliability; software; cost of online versus near-line; and growing opportunities. Sidebars provide additional information on…

Describes the design and development of a prototype expert system called ONLINE-EXPERT that helps users select online databases and vendors that meet users' needs. Search strategies are discussed; knowledge acquisition and knowledge bases are described; and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a decision analysis technique that ranks databases,…

Proposes principles for the design of effective document retrieval (DR) systems incorporating users' cognitive behaviors. Addresses three issues: (1) effective representations for documents to enable users' relevance judgments and decision making; (2) efficient presentations of documents to facilitate users' information processing and decision…

Describes the design of a prototype adaptive online catalog that was implemented as a transparent workstation-based front end system to MELVYL, the online catalog for the University of California libraries. Problems with searching bibliographic retrieval systems are reviewed, including irrelevant retrievals and the inexperience of most users.…

Examines the current state of user interface design for information seeking. Topics include technology push and interdisciplinarity; research and development; literature trends; user-centered interface design; information seeking in electronic environments; online information retrieval system interfaces; online public access catalog interfaces;…

Describes The Gateway, a computerized library system for undergraduate students that integrates access to multiple sources of information and provides embedded training on their use. A discussion of the general interface design principles is followed by the results of a preliminary evaluative study. Numerous sample screens illustrate the text. (13…

There has been increasing interest over the past few years in systems that help users exchange recommendations about World Wide Web documents. Programs have ranged from those that rely totally on user pre-selection, to others that are based on artificial intelligence. This paper proposes a system that falls between these two extremes, providing…