Examines bibliographic relationships within the context of a global bibliographic database. Results of this research indicate that a core of works of similar character constitute the bibliographic population of American academic and research libraries (OCLC, Online Computer Library Center members). The size of a bibliographic family seems to be…

Discusses new developments in online library catalogs, including Web-based catalogs; interconnectivity within the library; interconnectivity between libraries; graphical user interfaces; pricing models; and a checklist of questions to ask when purchasing a new online catalog. (LRW)

Discusses how to catalog nonbook, or nonprint, materials in school libraries. Highlights include advantages of putting nonbook materials into an online catalog; weeding the collection; note fields; updating skills and knowledge for nonbook cataloging; documentation for the online system; and contacting other librarians and catalogers for help.…

Describes the University of California at Berkeley's participation in the TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) interactive track experiments. Highlights include results of searches on two systems, Cheshire II and ZPRISE; system design goals and implementation; precision and recall results; search questions by topic and system; and results of…

Uses continuous-time stochastic models, mainly based on semi-Markov chains, to derive user state transition patterns, both in rates and in probabilities, in a Web-based information system. Describes search sessions from transaction logs of the University of California's MELVYL library catalog system and discusses sequential dependency. (Author/LRW)

Presents a model of some of the typical important layers in the design of information systems, and shows how those layers interact in operation. Suggests that these layers are in the way of a cascade of each layer affecting the next. Presents a model of this cascade of interactions in information systems. Provides examples from networked…

The Follett library software system is the literary conscience of St. Francis High School. It reports on overdue books, checkout statistics, and online catalog search records. The circulation numbers tell that reading is a tough sell for today's teens. As the school's custodian of books and information, the author describes his efforts at leading…

Although articles in series generally embrace a central theme, they may not share a common index term; retrieval by medical subject heading often produces an incomplete set. Since subject retrieval is problematic, it would be helpful if articles in a series could be retrieved by series title. Five quality-assessed general medical journals…

This manual was compiled for use by staff and graduate assistants working in the OCLC Cataloging Section of the Automated Services Unit, Technical Services Division, University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign. Although the procedures described are institution-specific, their applications could be adapted to accommodate copy cataloging…

The combination of computer technology and library operation is helping to alleviate such library problems as escalating costs, increasing collection size, deteriorating materials, unwieldy arrangement schemes, poor subject control, and the acquisition and processing of large numbers of rarely used documents. Small special libraries such as…

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of keyword searching in an online catalog to traditional subject searching in one special collection of vocational rehabilitation materials. Subject area specialists assessed the contents of books using their terminology, and compared the results to MARC records. It was found that slightly…

This report describes an online public access catalog (OPAC) developed at Pennsylvania State University which downloads, manages, and manipulates data once it has been retrieved. The paper begins with a list of the 12 features of the system, which is called MicroLIAS (Library Information Access System): (1) build and fully index any number of…

This study was designed to be a state-of-the-art survey and investigation of intelligent "front end" design approaches and software for improving subject access and subject searching in today's large online bibliographic retrieval systems and online public access catalogs (OPACS). The report begins with an illustrated overview of…

This handbook is a guide to doing business research in a university library. Following library location and orientation information, the first section discusses the research paper, i.e., thinking about the topic and planning a research strategy, the flow of information over time, and evaluating sources. Finding and using books, journal articles,…

This document consists of supplemental information designed to accompany a presentation on the application of projection technology, including video projectors and liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, in the online catalog library instruction program at the Indiana State University libraries. Following an introductory letter, the packet includes:…