Defines the notion of serial clustering of words in text, and explores the value of such clustering as an indicator of a word's bearing content. This approach is flexible in the sense that it is context-sensitive; a numerical approach may also be of value in assigning weights to terms in requests. Experimental support is obtained from natural text…

Uses a simple model of an information retrieval (IR) technology to examine performance measures for IR systems. Shows that, if a user is employing a system optimally, then reasonable performance measures will tend to be relatively robust, or insensitive, to small variations in assumptions about the user's behavior. (AEF)

Describes the fifth Dublin Core (DC Workshop) DC is a small set of simple, descriptive data elements intended to aid in the discovery of Internet resources. Covers metadata issues, "DC Lite," current international projects utilizing the Core, and issues yet to be resolved. (AEF)

Discusses research conducted by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission on electronic record keeping (tools and techniques to manage electronic records produced in an office environment) and on the best practices for storing, describing, and providing access to all electronic records of long-term value. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study that was conducted to identify, describe, and analyze the document representations of Web sites revealed in the hit list of subject searches conducted by four search engines: AltaVista, infoseek Ultra, Lycos, and Open Text Index. Problems are discussed, and implications for Web page design are considered. (LRW)

Explains how to train users in effective Web searching. Discusses challenges of teaching Web information retrieval; a framework for information searching; choosing the right search tools for users; the seven-step lesson planning process; tips for delivering group Internet training; and things that help people work faster and smarter on the Web.…

Focuses on the Deep Web, defined as Web content in searchable databases of the type that can be found only by direct query. Discusses the problems of indexing; inability to find information not indexed in the search engine's database; and metasearch engines. Describes 10 sites created to access online databases or directly search them. Lists ways…

Discusses problems with navigation in hypertext systems, including cognitive overload, and describes a study that tested information visualization techniques to see which best represented the underlying structure of Web space. Considers the effects of visualization techniques on user performance on information searching tasks and the effects of…

Describes a multimedia approach to solving image retrieval problems. Presents the idea of a media agent, which can automatically collect semantic descriptions of multimedia data into a personal media database on behalf of a particular user whenever and wherever he/she accesses these multimedia data. Discusses implementation and applications of the…

This study maps the intellectual structure of the field of Information Retrieval (IR) during the period of 1987-1997. Co-word analysis was employed to reveal patterns and trends in the IR field by measuring the association strengths of terms representative of relevant publications or other texts produced in IR. Results show that the IR field has…

Proposes a two-step model of discovery in which new scientific hypotheses can be generated and subsequently tested. Applying advanced natural language processing techniques to find biomedical concepts in text, the model is implemented in a versatile interactive discovery support tool. This tool is used to successfully simulate Don R. Swanson's…

Discusses how to improve research and design more effective information retrieval systems. Topics include human-system interaction; knowledge integration; pluralistic research approaches; enhanced access to research data; more multidisciplinary integrative devices and conceptual mappings; establishing a greater mass of published research findings…

Describes how media/technology specialists organize and monitor instructional resources in schools. Topics include technology coordinators, decentralization of resources, media specialists in each school, and media retrieval systems to schedule the use of media and technology in classrooms. (LRW)

Discussion of information retrieval focuses on a study of graduate students where the inferential communication model, which implies that the meaning of a document is inferred in the context of the user's situation to result in different meanings for different users, is used to study an inferential science document representation method.…

Describes an evaluation model for expansion systems in information retrieval, i.e., systems expanding a user selection of documents to provide the user with a larger set of documents sharing the same or related characteristics. Highlights include a test protocol and evaluation measures for the efficiency of expansion systems. (Contains 29…