Printed bibliographic descriptions of journal articles cited by BioSciences Information Service of Biological Abstracts (BIOSIS), Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), and Engineering Index (Ei) were compared to identify similarities and differences in form, format, and data content. (Author)

Fees are charged by these services on the basis of flat rate, service, and "connect time." Support can also be obtained through subsidies. Some services market diverse products in addition to their printed publications, including output in different formats and document services. (JAB)

Experiments with two distinct collections, using three levels of indexing exhaustively for both documents and requests, show that substantially the same performance is obtained for very different levels of document indexing, if suitable choices are made of request level. (6 references) (Author)

Preparing decision makers for the future is discussed in terms of a three pronged approach to the teaching of document surrogation: Knowledge about, skills in, and management of. The management prong should include the habit of using the data from the present situation to make decisions about future change. (5 references) (Author)

An indexing system for chemistry and technology of macromolecular substances is sketched out, whose characteristics are convenience of use and low cost. The selection mechanism consists of a set of optical coincidence cards. The selection is a result of 15 years experience in the German Plastics Institute. (13 references) (Author)

Summarizes the historical development, functions, and changing nature of secondary information services, with emphasis on abstracting and indexing services. (JL)

Speculates on possible avenues for research in the area of bibliographic control, considers questions in the field that need answering, and posits that future research needs to be supported by basic theoretical inquiry. Forty-eight references are cited. (FM)

Summarizes the characteristics of TOXIN, CHEMFILE, and the Product Profile Information System (PPIS), nonbibliographic databases used by Shell Oil Company's Health, Safety, and Environment Organization. (FM)

Reexamines the utility of edge-notched cards as an inexpensive alternative to computers for indexing small specialized collections. Five references are listed. (RAA)

Describes LASH (project for a list of Australian subject headings) through its development and demise. (RAO)

Describes a study of the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors" that examined links between the use of an indexing term and its physical similarity to its narrower terms. Results indicate almost no correlation between how often a term is assigned and how many similar looking narrower terms it has. (six references) (LRW)

Discusses theoretical considerations of indexing as a part of information retrieval theory. Topics discussed include mentalist proposals; text representation and knowledge representation; rules of grammar and syntax; linguistic theory; philosophical theories of Wittgenstein regarding rules; retrieval practices; and the formation of rules in…

Discussion of how librarians can help organize the Internet focuses on the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set. Topics include OCLC's efforts, the MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging Records) format for cataloging and how it relates to the Dublin Core; the CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Catalog); and Web sites for organizing the Internet. (LRW)