User studies have been conducted for many years in the information and library science fields. In the archival world, this phenomenon has not been as common and less emphasis has been placed on collecting and studying the user's perspective in general. However, there are studies showing the "use" of these types of studies, particularly in the…

The emphasis of this text is that the problems of information retrieval are the intellectual ones of subject analysis and description. These problems are not easily solved by technology alone, although certain inroads are being made by knowledge-based expert systems and other computer aids to indexing. Linguistic approaches are also showing…

In this article, the author explains how librarians can ensure that their Web site visitors find the information they need. The pros and cons of four options used to help people find information on a Web site are explored. These options are: (1) redesigning the site; (2) creating drop-down, second-level menus for second-level pages; (3) adding a…

This volume provides subject access to materials on all aspects of African American life and culture using the same format as the "Library of Congress Subject Headings" (LCSH). It lists approximately 5,000 subject headings that are interfaced and linked with LCSH. The list contains some of the problems that accompany the LCSH list…

This book serves as an overview of the field of abstracting and indexing, beginning by explaining some of the history and terminology of the craft. Other topics include the customary duties of abstractors and indexers, the types of employers that hire them, personal attributes and educational requirements important to success in the profession,…

The Insurance Division of the Special Libraries Association began an index to insurance magazines, the "Insurance Periodicals Index" (IPI), in 1962. This study examines its historical development. The index was published monthly in an insurance trade journal and then cumulated into an annual edition. Part of the background for its…

This course syllabus for a continuing education course for health science librarians introduces the MEDLARS system, the MEDLINE database, and the Index Medicus. Designed to enable health science librarians to discriminate between the capabilities of manual searching and online retrieval, an overview is given of the nature and scope of MEDLINE and…

Task analyses for library equipment operation by the severely retarded, behavioral objective information for library resources indexing, and three bibliographies of rehabilitation related materials are provided for the guidance of library staff in Florida libraries through a project funded by the Library Services and Construction Act, Title I. The…

This essay focuses on use of the Library of Congress Subject Headings system in online catalogs for the retrieval of information by subject. Among the topics addressed are differences among catalog forms (card, microform, and computer); user interface with different forms of catalog; the types of subject indexes employed in present online…

This controlled vocabulary comprising approximately 1,030 terms commonly used in the field of international development communication was created by the Clearinghouse on Development Communication of the Academy for Educational Development to analyze and index documents. This standard list of terms, designed to provide subject access to information…

This review takes a critical approach in summarizing and evaluating the methodology and scope of catalog use studies, with emphasis on the subject approach to card catalog searching. Subject access is defined in this report; however, the process of subject searching, described repeatedly in library literature, has been based upon common sense…

AREAS INVESTIGATED INCLUDE SLOW MEMORY DATA STORAGE, THE PROBLEM OF DECODING FROM AN INDEX TO A SLOW MEMORY ADDRESS, THE STRUCTURE OF DATA LISTS AND DATA LIST OPERATORS, COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE HUMAN USER AND THE SYSTEM, PROCESSING OF RETRIEVAL REQUESTS, AND THE USER'S CONTROL OVER THE RETURN OF INFORMATION RETRIEVED. LINEAR, LINKED AND…

A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY ENGLISH LANGUAGE PERIODICALS RELATING TO EDUCATION, TO ANALYZE THE COVERAGE AND TREATMENT OF THE PERIODICAL LITERATURE PERTINENT TO EDUCATION BY AVAILABLE ABSTRACTING AND INDEXING PUBLICATIONS, AND TO IDENTIFY ANY DEFICIENCIES IN THAT TREATMENT. A BASIC LIST OF 357 PERIODICALS, APPROXIMATELY 55 PER CENT OF WHICH…

IN ORDER TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION WITHIN TWO-YEAR LOWER DIVISION COURSES, A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE LIBRARY WAS DEVELOPED AND A SIMPLIFIED CATALOGING AND INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WAS APPLIED TO IT. THE ROYAL MCBEE "KEYDEX" SYSTEM, CONTAINING THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS--A PUNCH MACHINE, FILE CARDS, AND A LIGHT BOX--WAS USED. CARDS WERE HEADED WITH KEY…

A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE RECORDINGS, DEVISED FOR USE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX, IS DESCRIBED IN THIS ARTICLE. CODING AND CROSS-REFERENCE SYSTEMS FOR THE VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF TAPES ARE OUTLINED, AND SPECIFIC EXAMPLES ARE INCLUDED. APPENDED IS A LIST OF TAPE REFERENCE CODES. THE SYSTEM OUTLINED IS NOT CONSIDERED IDEAL, BUT IT…