Analytical methods for facilitating comparison of multiple sets during online searching are illustrated by description of specific searching methods that eliminate duplicate citations and a factoring procedure based on syntactic relationships that establishes ranked sets. Searches executed in National Center for Mental Health database on…

Discusses the inclusion of citations to literary articles that have appeared in medical journals in National Library of Medicine's database, MEDLINE. Highlights include search aids, search strategies, sample references, and five publications that serve as orientations to current status of movement toward interdisciplinary study of medicine and…

Discusses characteristics of typical online public access catalogs (OPACs) and examines patron use via printouts of transaction logs for three separate systems. Desirable features of OPACs (mnemonic search commands, boolean operators, forgiveness or automatic truncation, browsing a subject heading index, suggestive prompts) and need for…

This paper considers the ways in which information finding is changing in a world of digital information and associated search systems, with particular focus on methods of locating information that are distinct from, but complementary to, established practices of bibliographic description. The following three general approaches to identifying…

Implementation of relevance feedback explored here demonstrates feasibility of query reformulation for boolean retrievals from online databases. Improvements to a term prevalence formula used in earlier research are presented, along with experimental results that confirm crucial role of term weights in relevance feedback. Seven references are…

Presents findings of project aimed at improving subject access in online library catalogs by generating records with augmented subject descriptions, termed BOOKS records, and comparing them with MARC records. Procedures involved in the selection of subject descriptions to generate a BOOKS record are described and illustrated. Six references cited.…

Compares and evaluates the databases covering the literature of sports and recreation. Discusses information scatter in the discipline, exhaustivity of coverage within particular databases, and search strategies, vocabulary control, and database overlap. Included are nine data tables and four appendices illustrating search results. (JL)

Notes the history of the ERIC indexing vocabulary and the Identifier Cleanup undertaken to reduce scattering in the identifier field. Described in detail is the Vocabulary Improvement Project to review and revise the controlled vocabulary and produce a new Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors. (CWM)

Examines the searching environment at Amoco Research Center as it affects the performance of online searching, regardless of the subject matter of the search itself. A comparison of general search strategies using various models is also presented. (CWM)

Examines through a series of mathematical models (theorems, descriptions, and examples), properties and operations on inverted files, which are used in an information retrieval system based on thesaurus with weighted descriptors. (CWM)

Describes the development of a method for the evaluation and comparison of interactive information retrieval systems, which are based on the concept of a simulated work-task situation and the involvement of real end users. Highlights include real and simulated information needs; relevance assessments; and the dynamic nature of information needs.…

Describes a study conducted at Rutgers University (New Jersey) that observed 24 graduate students' relevance judgments during information retrieval. Discusses implications for finding relevance dimensions, the measurement of relevance, thesaurus construction, evaluation of information retrieval, and variables affecting relevance judgments. (LRW)

Discussion of the availability of digital images focuses on a study of American history faculty and graduate students that investigated the criteria which image users apply when making judgments about the relevance of an image. Considers topicality and image quality and suggests implications for image retrieval system design. (Contains 63…

Presents a set-oriented view of information retrieval and defines a precise model to capture this approach. A number of consequences of the model, such as the limitations implied by a finite index vocabulary, are examined, and the various ways in which the set orientation can influence thinking about information retrieval is discussed. (14…

Discussion of efficient communication in research and development focuses on the use and nonuse of relevant information. Highlights include information overload and efficiency; nonuse of relevant information as policy; two kinds of overload; and implications for information science. (33 references) (LRW)