Retrieval of passages from documents rather than whole documents as units speeds both user access to wanted information and the screening out of false retrievals. Results of an experiment suggest that high quality passage retrieval services for scientists are now feasible. (Author/PF)

Tests performed on 6,260 titles from 3 machine-readable British National Bibliography files using an entropy based technique for abbreviation of text strings for use as a control code found that more than 94 percent of the titles generated a unique seven character code. Six references and an illustrative example are appended. (EJS)

Discusses several query-processing methods designed to allow the use of relevance weights or thresholds attached to terms and compares them with normal Boolean rules and fuzzy subset theory. Forty-five references are listed. (FM)

Extends Goffman's Indirect Method of Information Retrieval by suggesting a more flexible search strategy which, in its simplified version, appears more effective than the Boolean strategy used in existing information retrieval systems and can be implemented at comparable costs. (Author)

Reports on an evaluation of the construction of selective dissemination of information profiles for the International Nuclear Information System (INIS) in South Africa. (PF)

Sixty-one students provided the Library of Congress (LC) subject terms they would use to search an academic library catalog in 30 hypothetical searches. Students had difficulty developing strategies. The study concluded that LC subject cataloging needs rationalization. (KP)

Describes an empirical study that was conducted to examine the performance of expert search intermediaries from Chemical Abstracts Service. Highlights include subject-independent and subject-dependent expertise; a model of the use of subject-specific knowledge; and implications for computerized intermediary systems and for training human…

A procedure for adjusting queries to retrieve more documents for a user by automatically selecting and broadening the descriptors from relevant documents is described. Although more computing is required, recall and precision are superior to traditional searching. (KP)

Presents system for automatic handling of ordered sets, states based on these sets, and differing points of view regarding Universe of Discourse. Aspects are represented by new logical "overlap" function with examples taken from Ranganathan's horse and carriage parable and several books involving four main concepts (history, geography,…

Presents a model of information retrieval based on plausible inference which suggests that techniques should be found for combining multiple search strategies into an overall assessment of a document's relevance. The results of experiments designed to test this approach using a simple spreading activation search are discussed. (21 references) (CLB)

Demonstrates the property of inclusiveness of document retrieval systems where documents are indexed by unweighted terms and in which query search patterns are Boolean functions of descriptors and presents three methods for determining a partial ordering on a set of system responses to these queries. Eleven sources are listed. (FM)

Describes a method of iterative searching that uses local metrical clustering in the formulation of additional searches by producing searchonyms, terms which are synonymous to keywords in the context of a single query. The method was applied to a database containing Hebrew and Aramaic text. Seven references are listed. (FM)

Explains, with supporting figures and flowcharts of programing logic, two search strategies introduced to the MORPHS System since 1976: one that employs the normal Boolean operators in strings without bracketing or in the form of marked steps, and one that treats a string of keywords as a compound word. (Author/JD)

Discusses the text retrieval system, EUREKA, and its techniques for helping the unsophisticated user through the search for and understanding of information based on the vocabulary file concept. Methods for easy construction and maintenance of a suitable data base organization through the EURUP system are described. (RAA)

Describes an information retrieval system component that taps into the expertise of users by automatically drawing conclusions from actual search behavior about possible thesaurus entries. The processes of knowledge acquisition, explicit or implicit confirmation by users, knowledge verification, and generation of final results are discussed.…