The article shows the effect of the irregularity of using separate symbols on search noise on punch cards with superimposed symbol coding in information-search system (IPS). A binomial law of random value distribution of repetition of each symbol is established and analyzed. A method of determining the maximum value of symbol repetition is…

The indirect retrieval method proposed by Goffman is outlined and some similarities to other retrieval methods are indicated. The method is then evaluated and the results are compared with those obtained on the same document collection with cluster-based retrieval using single-link clustering. (Author)

The Editor in Chief of Collier's Encyclopedia relates his life and times and trials and tribulations as an encyclopedist. (NH)

Describes this perspectives issue that was designed to provide an historical background to visualization in information retrieval. Topics include knowledge, digital technology, the first visual interface to a collection at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), theoretical foundations, and applications. (LRW)

Presents an approach to document ranking that explicitly addresses the word mismatch problem between a query and a document by exploiting interdocument similarity information, based on the theory of concept lattices. Compares information retrieval using concept lattice-based ranking (CLR) to BMR (best-match ranking) and HCR (hierarchical…

Discussion of digital libraries focuses on the need for personalization capabilities so users can create their own personalized information environments. Highlights include material personalization; collection personalization; active reading; personalized retrieving; personalized filtering; and a prototype system. (LRW)

Reading and synthesizing medical journals for possible research trajectories is but a single example of the innovations that are transforming science and technology. These innovations are the direct result of a complex combination of forces at work in a new environment, encompassing education, research, opportunity, challenge, ingenuity,…

It is known that any totally skew quantity with (n + 1) indices, each of which ranges over n values, vanishes identically. The aim of this short note is to show that this is equivalent to the simple fact that any (n + 1) vectors in an n-dimensional vector space are linearly dependent.

This study investigates the relationships between the use of a zoom tool, the terms they supply to describe the image, and the type of image being viewed. Participants were assigned to two groups, one with access to the tool and one without, and were asked to supply terms to describe forty images, divided into four categories: landscape, portrait,…

The Thesaurus for Education Systems in Europe (TESE-2009 edition) is a multilingual thesaurus and a robust information retrieval tool focusing on European education systems and policies. It is specifically designed to cover the indexation needs of the Eurydice network and to facilitate information retrieval on Eurydice's central website. It can…

Three experiments investigated whether retrieval of information about different dimensions of a visual object varies as a function of the perceptual properties of those dimensions. The experiments involved two perception-based matching tasks and two retrieval-based matching tasks. A signal-to-respond methodology was used in all tasks. A stochastic…

This chapter looks at the development and nature of learning objects, meta-tagging standards and taxonomies, learning object repositories, learning object repository characteristics, and types of learning object repositories, with type examples. (Contains 1 table.)

Keying in the search term "Martin Luther King" on Google would result in retrieving martinlutherking.com as the topmost hit. At first glance, it seems like a neutral informational site, but clicking on a few articles will unmask the hate. This site, which is owned by Don Black, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, references King as a…

This study conducted to determine representation impact on information items retrieval in terms of precision and recall performance and overlap used the INSPEC "Computers and Control Abstracts" loaded on DIATOM, an online retrieval system based on DIALOG, as the database to be searched. Sixty-nine users provided 84 queries which were…

In Part I of the Session, Network members describe and compare their experiences in utilizing various aspects of the SUNY Retrieval System including "query" cycle, scan statements, author searches, and book files. Machine problems are discussed as well as options on charging for searches, how much information to retrieve, and serving…