Most existing general record formats for bibliographical data are mainly designed for communication purposes but not for compact storing and efficient handling in an information retrieval system. Since bibliographic databases are well structured, the types of information that will appear in a specific record will vary only within a limited scope.…

Problems involved in searching multiple data bases are discussed including indexing differences, overlap among data bases, variant spellings, and elimination of duplicate items from search output. Discussion focuses on CA Condensates, Inspec, and Metadex data bases. (J PF)

The need to search several files to obtain the maximum information on energy is emphasized. Energyline, APILIT, APIPAT, PIE News, TULSA, NTIS, and Chemical Abstracts Condensates files are described. (KP)

This article discusses some concepts of business information and surveys some online business data bases, notably the Predicasts data bases. Business applications of other categories of data bases are also discussed. (Author/KP)

The Information Retrieval Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois regularly calculates certain statistics associated with the MARC II data base. Statistics pertaining to data element occurrence, data element length, and distribution of records by Dewey Decimal division and Library of Congress class code are given. (Author)

In releasing individual data for statistical analysis by outsiders, deletion of direct personal identifiers is sometimes insufficient to preserve confidentiality. This study discusses procedures for analyzing data from confidential files while preserving individual anonimity. Recommendations for specific procedures are made. (Author/JKS)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress Information Retrieval System is a single purpose database program. It is well constructed, runs without problems, and serves as a model for dissemination of research and evaluation study results. The program seems more useful as an index to documents than as an independent database. (Author/DWH)

Examines Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules from a generalized database approach, using the entity-relationship model. Types of rules identified include content; establishing entities, relationships, or attributes; authorized sources; domain; format; and access points. Current arrangement of the rules is criticized, improvements are recommended, and…

Databases receive their copyright protection (or lack of protection) under several provisions in the copyright act, including the provisions on public domain, compilations, derivative works, and original works. Application of fair use to copyrighted databases centers on downloading; protection for locally produced databases can be secured.…

Two basic data processing concepts are described: data elements (consisting of bits, bytes, fields, records, and files) and binary characters (standards, hex value, and extended character sets--Greek letters, superscripts, and subscripts). Use of machine-readable data in the OCLC-MARC database is noted. (EJS)

The author believes it would be appropriate to review the current National Technical Information Service (NTIS) pricing policy in terms of its rationale, legality, and the possibility of mitigating or reversing the demonstrated pattern of repeated cost increases. (Author/SJ)

The need for the interconversion of chemical substructure systems is discussed and CHEMTRAN, a new service, designed especially for creating interconversion programs, is introduced. (7 references) (Author)

The purpose of this communication is to suggest that in the situation where documents are retrieved independently the desired parameters may be estimated more accurately by sampling and averaging techniques over homogeneous subparts of the data base. (4 references) (Author)

A technique for structuring and searching a large file of chemical structures is presented. The technique involves generating a nested, structured tree based on the Wiswesser analysis of chemical structures. An important virtue of the tree is the rapid and inexpensive file updating. (9 references) (Author/NH)