Studies an information retrieval system for bibliographic entries or abstracts using queries from the INSPEC database on the FOLIO system at Stanford University (California). Highlights include strategies for distributing indexes across a set of processors and for performing queries in parallel; inverted lists; simulations; local area networks;…

Discusses indexes for text databases and presents an efficient implementation of an index for text searching called PAT array, or suffix array, where the database is stored on secondary storage devices such as magnetic or optical disks. Additional hierarchical index structures and searching algorithms are proposed that improve searching time, and…

Reports results of a comparison of the Academic Index on CD-ROM and four indexes on the OPAC (online public access catalog) at Brooklyn College (New York): General Science Index, Humanities Index, Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, and Social Science Index. Coverage of the "New York Times" was found to be important. (LRW)

Presents the 1997 U.S. Serials Services Price Index, produced by the Library Materials Price Index Committee of the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services. Finds a 3.9% increase over 1996. Includes eight tables covering U.S. Serial Services, business, general and humanities, law, science and…

Describes the methods used to create secondary publications, and discusses the respective roles of and relationships between primary and secondary publications, emphasizing the symbiotic nature of the two. Related copyright legislation and cases in both the United States and other countries are reviewed. (CLB)

Describes the use of the "Science Citation Index" in deciding whether to keep older basic science books that have failed to meet other criteria for collection retention. It is concluded that manual searching of the indexes proved feasible and reliable, while the lack of book titles on the online version reduced reliability of weeding…

Describes an examination of the effectiveness of retrieving and ranking records from citation indexes based on the number of references in common with an identified and relevant record. It is concluded that this retrieval method is potentially useful, especially in those searches backward and forward in time that are enabled by the design of…

Describes the development and use of a policy model and algorithm for allocating continuing education (CE) resources in a large national health system. The algorithm uses a two-factor model, basing facility CE allocations on the amount of CE need and price differences in accessing CE sources. (Author/JOW)

Compares mean 1985 subscription prices and mean cents per thousand characters of scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Similar comparisons are made for journals published by associations, scholarly organizations, and commercial publishers, and the data from this study are compared with data from a study using 1973…

Discusses the results of a survey of 255 librarians and college professors that was conducted to determine their preferences regarding three back-of-the-book index features: word-by-word versus letter-by-letter alphabetizing; line-by-line versus run-on subheading arrangement; and see references versus duplicate entries. (Contains 25 references.)…

Describes VERONICA (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-Wide Index to Computerized Archives), an Internet navigation tool developed at the University of Nevada as an index and access tool to gopher servers on the network. Highlights include connecting to VERONICA; availability of VERONICA server software; and difficulties. (Contains three references.)…

Examines the behavior of long-run average cost when the firm knows it faces pecuniary economies or diseconomies of scale. Asserts that the central issue is the conditions under which the scale properties of the production function will or will not dominate the pecuniary effects of changing input prices. (CFR)

Reports on the history of bibliometrics, citation indexing, and citation analysis in the legal field. Private and commercial ventures dating back to the nineteenth century, the influence of legal bibliometrics on bibliometrics in other fields, and possibilities for future development of legal citation analysis are discussed. (27 references) (LRW)

Describes the functions of book and periodical indexes and characteristics of varieties of book indexes. Problems related to periodical indexing including indexing policy, indexing language, depth of indexing, authors' names, titles, the physical form of indexes, indexes to single volumes of periodicals, and cumulative indexes are discussed.…

Examines the challenges of using the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Indexes to perform citation searches for personnel decisions and offers specific guidelines for searchers to follow during the presearch interview. Potential obstacles, search techniques, and systems commands are also described. (five references) (KRN)