ISPEDS is a computerized information base and retrieval system designed initially to serve the State Department's Office of International Athletic Programs (IAP). It provides timely information in sports exchanges, competitions, clinics, tournaments, seminars, and associated meetings. (LBH)

Older people seem to have difficulty learning new materials, perhaps because it takes them longer to retrieve relevant encoding information from memory. To assess the effects of age on speed of retrieval, 60 health males from 25 to 74 were shown pictures of common objects they were name aloud as quickly as possible. (Editor)

Estimates of frequency of spelling errors are made based on a sample of 3,600 index terms drawn from 11 bibliographic data bases. The impact of these errors is discussed by tape supplier, tape user, and end user; with some suggestions for search strategies.

Describes the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Indexing Aid Project for conducting research in knowledge representation and indexing for information retrieval, whose goal is to develop interactive knowledge-based systems for computer-assisted indexing of the periodical medical literature. Appendices include background information on NLM…

Describes the various roles and business-related concerns of independent information professionals. The impact of online databases is discussed, and several publications for information entrepreneurs are reviewed. (MES)

Designed to characterize journals as part of the selection process for journals to be included in an information retrieval database, two studies used bibliometric techniques to examine patterns of publishing and topic patterns and coverage, and a third developed a rule-based system to evaluate the qualities of a journal. (CLB)

Reviews aspects of the relationship between machine learning and information retrieval. Highlights include learning programs that extend from knowledge-sparse learning to knowledge-rich learning; the role of the thesaurus; knowledge bases; artificial intelligence; weighting documents; work frequency; and merging classification structures. (78…

Reports the results of a study which examined costs and search results for 20 searchers conducted on both BRS After Dark and Knowledge Index. Various features of the two retrieval systems are reviewed, and advantages and disadvantages of each system are summarized. Data are presented in one table and several graphs. (24 references) (MES)

Presents an operational definition of personal information retrieval systems and describes design principles of current applications and existing systems, current trends, and research guidelines for general design principles. (4 references) (Author/CLB)

Discusses search and retrieval software for use with CD-ROM. Background trends, how data are made usable, supply and demand, data preparation services, and capabilities of search software are described. Vendors of significant information retrieval products are identified, and the characteristics of 12 packages are compared. (Author/EM)

Study conducted at the University of Western Ontario explored whether use of keywords of an online catalog would be a satisfactory alternative to self cross referencing for locating variant subject heading forms. Random comparison of machine readable cataloging with Library of Congress authorities demonstrated the desirability of cross reference…

Describes the development of a database on medieval manuscripts. Includes information on the design of an architecture for the database and problems encountered in its construction and use. (JDH)

Explicates a definition and theory of "aboutness" and aboutness analysis developed by text linguist van Dijk; explores implications of text linguistics for bibliographic classification theory; suggests the elements that a theory of the cognitive process of classifying documents needs to encompass; and delineates how people identify…

This in-depth look at database management systems (DBMS) for microcomputers covers data entry, information retrieval, security, DBMS software and design, and downloading of literature search results. The advantages of in-house systems versus online search vendors are discussed, and specifications of three software packages and 14 sources are…

Discusses design, applications, advantages, disadvantages, users, and future trends of two types of natural language programs: menu-driven where commands are constructed from lists of words, and English-command-driven which translate your words into commands recognized by the computer. Several specific computer programs are described, including…