Discovery layers provide a simplified interface for searching library resources. Libraries with limited finances make decisions about retaining indexing and abstracting databases when similar information is available in discovery layers. These decisions should be informed by student success at finding quality information as well as satisfaction…

PubMed® is an on-line literature database hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Containing over 21 million citations for biomedical literature--both abstracts and full text--in the areas of the life sciences, behavioral studies, chemistry, and bioengineering, PubMed® represents an important tool for researchers. PubMed® searches return…

Focuses primarily on design issues and practical concerns involved in creating World Wide Web documents for use within an organization. Concerns for those developing Web home pages are: learning HyperText Markup Language (HTML); defining customer group; allocating staff resources for maintenance of documents; providing feedback mechanism for…

Argues that effective hypermedia designs should meet four goals: (1) minimize clutter so that the document looks and feels simple to use; (2) create an image appropriate to the corporate sponsor and to the users' expectations; (3) provide ready access to stored information; (4) minimize the effort, technology, and resources needed. (SR)

Argues that users' needs should play a more prominent role in the design or choice of an online catalog in a specific library, and outlines requirements which enhance ease of use. Areas discussed include operational control, search formulation control, access points, output control, user assistance, and hardware requirements. (nine references)…

Discusses the shift of information access from a data-centered to a user-centered model and describes the Daltext system, a prototype user-centered information system that allows the user to determine how the data will be viewed (i.e., within a datastream model, a set model, a relational model, and/or a hierarchical model). (Contains 30…

Discusses how hypermedia interfaces can use graphic design and language to help users of hypermedia programs to structure a cognitive approach to information retrieval. Argues that such interfaces should acknowledge the medium's limits, identify authorship levels, define a program model, provide overviews, and narrow the navigation functions. (SR)

Important characteristics of lexical databases and their applications in information retrieval and natural language processing are explained. An ongoing project using various machine-readable sources to build a lexical database is described, and detailed designs of individual entries with examples are included. (Contains 66 references.) (EAM)

This paper reviews the services provided by the ERIC system and suggests ways to broaden its scope through coordination with other existing education databases. The first of four major sections chronicles the evolution of ERIC and explains why it has not been able to exercise true bibliographic control over the literature of education. The second…

Examines the Museum Educational Site Licensing (MESL) Project--a cooperative project between seven cultural heritage repositories and seven universities--as well as other developments of cultural heritage image databases for academic use. Reviews recent literature on image indexing and retrieval, interface design, and tool development, urging a…

Discusses the use of natural language processing to help organize multimedia data. The MARIE system, which uses captions to embody the classificatory information and heuristic advice necessary to search a database of photographs, is explained. Advantages include improved speed of access and the ability for improved user interaction. (Contains 21…

Describes the creation of an interactive retrieval system for electronic numeric files that was developed at Cornell University's (New York) Mann Library. Topics discussed include user characteristics; special data characteristics; quality control; software; hardware; data preparation; database design and construction; interface; subject indexing…

This document describes a study that designed, developed, and evaluated the Pennsylvania school-district database program for use by educational decision makers. The database contains current information developed from data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and describes each of the 500 active school districts in the state. PEP…

Describes the development of California Institute of Technology Libraries' local database of articles from science and engineering journals and its integrated document request and delivery feature. It is noted that not all journals received by the libraries are in the database, backfiles are limited, and coverage is not comprehensive. (five…

Computerized systems have dramatically altered the way that information can be organized, published, searched and retrieved. This paper: (1) examines the components of subject access in online systems; (2) identifies the potential for subject access enhancements, such as enriching the contents of the database and improving user-system interaction,…