Discusses the difference in subject access in OPACs (online public access catalogs) between subject searching (authority, alphabetic, or controlled vocabulary) versus keyword searching (uncontrolled, free text, natural language vocabulary). Compares a query on the term "garbage" in two online catalogs and discusses results. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the use of the OCLC Authority File for answering reference questions. Contents of the authority file are described, including personal, corporate, conference, and geographic names, uniform titles, and subject headings; accessing the authority file is explained; searching strategies are discussed; and examples of authority records are…

Discusses indexing and access to digital resources, especially on the Internet. Topics include subject searching versus indexing; multiple terms of access; folk classification; basic level terms; folk access; Bradford's Law; Zipfian distributions; vocabulary scalability; the Resnikoff-Dolby 30:1 Rule; domain-specific indexing; and implications for…

Suggests strategies for finding information in gophers that will increase access to Internet information resources for library users. Highlights include search strategies; veronica searches; jughead searches; keyword lists; Boolean operations; gophers with subject menus; subject guides; listservs; and World-Wide Web. (eight references) (LRW)

Reviews and analyzes selected Web sites that use standard library classification schemes or controlled vocabularies to enhance access to Web information sources. Profiles common elements of many sites and the structural and navigational approaches incorporated with select sites. Includes an appendix of sites that use standard classification…

Provides an overview of the British Library's Initiatives for Access program which uses digital imaging. Highlights include digitization of microfilm, the electronic "Beowulf", electronic photographic viewing system, computer software that uses neural networks and fuzzy matching to provide links to search terms, and international…

Explores aspects of information retrieval complexity, specifically the demands on users and information systems, using a proposed query as an example. Discusses previous writings on subject access, search strategies and retrieval potential, and classification as a retrieval tool. An appendix shows the subject headings assigned to books in a…

Examines the structure and principles of various hierarchical guides, or hotlists, which attempt to give subject access to World Wide Web resources on the Internet. The lists are compared to classification schemes and to Library of Congress subject headings, and browsing and search engines are compared. (Author/LRW)

Expected Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSHs) and assigned LCSHs for 161 books requested by faculty in sociology, anthropology, and social work were compared to gauge the likely success of an online subject catalog search for those works. For 80% of the titles checked, inspection of the ninth edition of "Library of Congress Subject…

This book is designed to assist the beginning searcher of those online systems that primarily provide information in the form of bibliographic citations. These systems also contain files in other formats that are designed to provide answers to reference-type questions. It is intended not only to provide basic "how-to" information on the…

Ohio State University Library studied abilities of undergraduates to identify correct sources for answering reference questions when using the online catalog and the Sourcefinder database with its new Question Unit feature. Users located subjects and instructions at a greater percentage with Sourcefinder than with the online catalog. Topics…

Over the last decade, studies of online catalogs have revealed that they frequently discourage users. Subject queries often fail to produce retrievals or produce retrieval sets that are too large and unwieldy to be easily scanned. Research shows that users are seeking alternative approaches to those that manipulate the subject headings in catalog…

This study examines the indexing of drugs in the literature and compares actual drug indexing to stated indexing policies in selected databases. The goal is to aid health science information specialists, end-users, and/or non-subject experts to improve recall and comprehensiveness when searching for drug information by identifying the most useful…

This proceedings represents and documents in part the 16 presentations made at the 34th Annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing. World Wide Web URLs that provide insight into each presentation are included. Presentations include: (1) "Hypostatizing Data Collections, Especially Bibliographic: Abstractions, Representations,…

This set of papers offers insights into some of the major developments in the field of classification and knowledge organization, and highlights many of the fundamental changes in views and theories which have taken place during the last 40 years. This document begins with a series of reminiscences from former delegates of the first International…