This presentation at a seminar for library staff and students describes the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system as an information system designed to provide users with ready access to primarily English-language literature dealing with education by establishing a database, publishing abstracting journals, and reproducing…

Analyzes the search process, isolating the pertinent elements that make up a search and identifying the many decision points in the process. (Author/PF)

Designed for librarians and administrators new to the field as well as experienced online searchers, this bibliographic guide provides current and comprehensive information to aid in online searching. The normal types of materials, i.e., books, journals, newsletters, directories, bibliographies, indexes, and abstracts are listed; however, there…

Describes Reflink, a system based on sophisticated information retrieval techniques which is housed in a small microcomputer, and its predecessor, Reference Librarian Enhancement System (REFLES). The systems are placed in a conceptual framework involving stable and dynamic information, and several illustrations of multiple uses are presented. Four…

Written in Spanish, this booklet describes the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) system, who uses ERIC and why, and how to use ERIC. Brief descriptions of the 16 clearinghouses and the services of the ERIC Processing and Reference Facility, ERIC Document Reproduction Service, Oryx Press, and the U. S. Government Printing Office are…

Experimentation and analysis dominate the activities with the Intrex information storage and retrieval system. Detailed analysis of the retrieval effectiveness of the Intrex-System configuration have been made in an effort to establish, quantitatively, the value of free-vocabulary and deep subject indexing; the usefulness of various fields of…

Reports results of study of a group of end users (patent attorneys) doing their own online searching at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Highlights include DIALOG databases used by the attorneys, locations and searching modes, characteristics of patent attorney searchers, and problem areas. Questionnaire is appended. (5 references) (EJS)

Describes the components and capabilities of expert systems, discusses the use of such systems in library information applications, and outlines research being done in this area. A project aimed at the development of an expert system for referral services is described in detail, and implications for future research are discussed. (CLB)

Based on manual observation of 187 zero result online searches at a university library, this article addresses three types of problems that can produce such search results: multiple database searching, topic negotiation, and database availability. A summary of conceptual and practical recommendations for searchers are provided. (6 references) (EJS)

This article describes use of the InfoTrac system, a self-contained periodical reference system designed for in-library use that provides coverage of 900 general interest, business, management, and economic periodicals, at Indiana University (Bloomington). Discussion covers InfoTrac installation, InfoTrac and student interaction, system…

The guide provides a quick reference to the database, services, and additional resources of the ERIC System that may be of use in adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy work. It first explains the role of the National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education, then describes the ERIC database and the kinds of adult ESL literacy materials…

The DR-LINK (Document Retrieval through Linguist Knowledge) search system was created to help automate the process that research librarians use to convert information needs, as stated by users, into the information retrieval process. DR-LINK resulted from participation in the United States Government initiative called Tipster that was sponsored by…

InfoTrac is a laserdisc system that provides local computer-access to Information Access Company's periodical databases and offers libraries an extensive, self-contained reference system. The system, which employs an IBM PC microcomputer, a Hewlett-Packard Thinkjet printer, and a Pioneer videodisc player, provides advantages of online searching at…

Computer-based reference search services were provided to users on a fee-for-service basis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the first, and experimental, note in the development of the Northeast Academic Science Information Center (NASIC). Development of a training program for information specialists and training materials is…

A series of five runs comprised of 20 searches each were carried out in a three-year span of the INSPEC data base. The same queries were processed manually in the corresponding volumes of Science Abstracts, and comparison of the output of each search method exposed reasons for the failures. Emphasis is laid on the fact that a query comprises other…