Search theory, originally developed for antisubmarine search, is applied to the scanning of library shelves for books of interest, or of a computerized abstract catalog for items of immediate application. Procedures optimizing the information to be found are discussed, as well as methods whereby the operational parameters can be measured. The…

UNISTAR (User Network for Information Storage, Transfer, Acquisition and Retrieval) represents a management system for scientific and technological information under the executive branch of the United States Government and a training exercise in the systems approach. A summary of the salient points of this study indicates that: a national policy…

The General Information Processing System (GIPSY) of the Merrick Computing Center is a user dominated system. It can be used to manipulate and retrieve both numeric and alphabetic material. One of its most interesting uses is in the selection and retrieval of records and documents or of selected entries from records and documents. It has been used…

The Mathematics Content Authority List for K-6 (abridged) represents an attempt to list in one volume the mathematics concepts and skills currently taught in the elementary schools. The list consists of approximately 300 items involving concepts from number systems and numeration, sets, geometry, measurement of non-geometric quantities, and number…

This thesis describes work done as part of the Video Console Indexing Project (VICI), a program to improve the quality and reduce the time and work involved in indexing documents. The objective of the work described was to design a video terminal system which could be connected to a main computer to provide rapid natural communication between the…

Characterized were the scientific and technical information needs of 1,500 scientists and engineers from 73 companies, 8 research institutes, and 2 universities; and the flow of scientific and technical information (flow process) inherent in satisfying these needs. Interviewers asked 63 questions in the subject areas of (1) the user of scientific…

This report is a survey of five on-line retrieval systems that, with one exception, have been used to demonstrate on-line access to the recently developed Committee on Scientific and Technical Information (COSATI) inventory of government sponsored work now in progress in the area of information sciences and technology. The report was prepared to…

A program is presented for a National Information System for Physics based on a computerized American Institute of Physics (AIP) Information Service which is designed to augment the element of selectivity of the present information system for user interests. It is proposed that the system be developed in discreet stages, each adding to the…

The general scope of SPIRAL is storage of free-flowing text information into a machine-readable library and recall of any portions of this stored information that are relevant to an inquiry. The major objectives in the design of the system were (1) to make it easy to use by persons unfamiliar with computer systems; and (2) to make it efficient, in…

The rapidly increasing amount of information retrieval experimentation necessitates that considerable attention be paid to the problems of experimental methodology. The authors feel that the generalized and well-known experience in the physical, life and behavioral sciences concerning the role of methodology in scientific research must be applied…

A two-fold solution to the cost information deficiency problem is proposed. A formal managerial cost accounting system is designed expressly for the two information services of retrospective search and selective dissemination. The system was employed during a trial period to test its effectiveness in a technical information center. Once…

This is a report of the international operations of the Excerpta Medica Foundation whose aim is to further the progress of medical knowledge by making information available to the medical and related professions on all significant basic research and clinical findings reported in any language, anywhere in the world. To accomplish this task,…

This paper deals with the problem of the referencing or storing methods in information systems which must be designed to allow for rapid retrieval of the key data leading to the desired information or the recovery of the information directly. Considered as a secondary, but frequently desirable, feature for the system is the ability to determine…

This is a revision of the "Rules for Thesaurus Preparation," published in October 1966. These rules are designed to help the Central ERIC staff and the staffs of the ERIC Clearinghouses make similar decisions related to the addition and modification of terms in the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors," Second Edition. In addition to…

The U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory (USAARL) is often required to make specialized measurements and perform applied research in aircraft-related areas of environmental medicine. Rapid access to the periodical literature is essential for the completion of many of these projects. A growing file of reprints from the periodical literature is…