The purpose of this survey is to identify and describe existing and contemplated projects in the Smithsonian Institution which make use of non-conventional means to store and retrieve information. These techniques range from electronic machine processed to a simple visual, color-coded system or a key-sort device. The 49 projects investigated were…

The report contains five papers dealing with some problems of a general classification scheme covering the whole field of knowledge which were presented at a conference held in London, June 1963. Topics covered included retrieval schemes, classification problems, inadequacies of existing classification schemes and the proposal of the…

Response time of on-line document retrieval systems is analyzed. Linear and inverted file organizations are considered and their response times are evaluated. (Author)

The Fort Detrick Information Retrieval System is a system of computer programs written in COBOL for a CDC 3150 to store and retrieve information about the scientific and technical reports and documents of the Fort Detrick Technical Library. The documents and reports have been abstracted and indexed. This abstract, the subject matter descriptors,…

Information mapping is a method of organizing categories of information and of displaying them for both learning and reference purposes. The method may be applied to the production of self-instructional books or to the organization of data bases for computer-aided instruction and reference. The report is itself written in modified information map…

The problem of computerized question-answering is discussed in this paper from the point of view of certain technical, although elementary, notions of logic. Although the work reported herein has general application to the design of information systems, it is specifically motivated by the RAND Relational Data File. This system, for which a…

HELP--a question-answering system--enables a user, sitting at the console of a time-shared computer, to obtain information on questions typed in. This information might concern the operating system itself, the format of commands to the user interface executive program, the use of a selected subsystem, or an area totally separate from the computer.…

This report explores the scope and limitations of the use of citations of published works as measures of the influential productivity of scientists, and suggests that publication citations be utilized for educational research. The Science Citation Index is a list of references (cited works), each of which is followed by a list of the sources…

This report discusses an experimental inquiry into the nature and use of context data. The objective is to explore the implications of a system incorporating context data and, ultimately, to test the utility of context data for meeting the needs of users of information systems. The result of this inquiry has been the establishment of a context…

The idea of pseudo-classification based on external relevance was introduced and compared with the usual classifications using associative techniques. A general model for an information retrieval system using term classification was described. A set of operators for adjusting pseudo-classifications and preventing their deterioration was derived…

A visual information display and retrieval system (VID-R) is described for application to visual records. VID-R searches and retrieves events by time address (location) or by previously stored ovservations or measurements. Fields are labeled by writing discriminable binary addresses on the horizontal lines outside the normal viewing area. The…

A measure of indexing consistency is developed based on the concept of 'fuzzy sets'. It assigns a higher consistency value if indexers agree on the more important terms than if they agree on less important terms. Measures of the quality of an indexer's work and exhaustivity of indexing are also proposed. Experimental data on indexing consistency…

A computer system, introduced for use in statistics courses within a college of education, features the performance of a variety of functions, a relatively economic operation, and the facilitation of placing remote terminals in schools. The system provides an interactive statistics laboratory in which the student learns to write programs for the…

Presented alphabetically in chart form are 89 names of periodicals and newsletters on physical education and recreation for 10 categories of handicapped children and adults, and names of data retrieval systems which index the publications. Abbreviations used in the chart to denote handicapping conditions and retrieval sources are explained at the…

The Design of Information Systems in the Social Sciences (DISISS) is a research project with the objective of carrying out research necessary for the effective design of information systems in the social sciences, whether by the creation of new systems or the modification of existing systems. This working paper explores the methods available for…