Presents results of a study that examined the effectiveness of adjacency operators in improving precision and recall in FirstSearch title keyword searches. Compared subject headings of retrieved items to sample title subject headings and discovered that when keywords were limited in meaning and adjacency operators were used, precision was…

Presents brief accounts of the user-based performance measure of relevance and the information system-based performance measure of competence. Results of an experiment are reported that used a geographic information system to illustrate how collecting and analyzing data from both a system and a user view of performance can be beneficial. (73…

Presents 10 tips on managing Internet searches; highlights include area and level of expertise, request forms, lay terms for casual users, realistic times for retrieving results, a systematic approach, the operating platform and tools, a file of servers' and patrons' addresses, bookmarks and home pages, shortcuts, and the Internet Hunt. (AEF)

A study of 100 article citations from 11 library science journals showed only 45 article citations that were completely free of errors, while 11 had major errors--i.e., errors preventing or hindering location of the reference--and the remaining 44 had minor errors. Citation accuracy in library science journals appears similar to accuracy in other…

Describes a process of morpho-syntactic language analysis for information retrieval. Tree Structured Analytics (TSA) used for text representation is summarized; the matching process developed for such structures is outlined with an example appended; and experiments carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of TSA matching are discussed. (26…

This test of the Strategy of Unlimited Aliasing, an indexing method that places terms from several indexers for the same information object in one index, utilized bibliographic records from the ERIC, LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts), and ISA (Information Science Abstracts) databases. The test did not support the indexing method.…

Discussion of the rapid growth in CD-ROM products highlights "HyperIntro to CD-ROM Technology and Products," an electronic publishing product. Three main components of the system are described: CD-ROM Technology; CD-ROM Products; and CD-ROM Usage, which describes how CD-ROM is being used and evaluated in libraries and information centers…

Describes the development of a system to retrieve images for an international project that is producing a pictorial dictionary of classical mythology, the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. Applications to other types of information are discussed, two classification systems for Art History are described, and design principles for…

Reports on a study on the use of quotations in 12 scholarly books in 4 subject areas--the arts, humanities, social sciences, and science and technology. Data are presented on length of quotations and numbers of references. The need for research to identify patterns among quotations that would facilitate design of improved indexing and searching…

Discussion of how moving image documents (MID)--i.e., film, videotape, and videodisc--can be described for information retrieval highlights the Image Structure Information System (ISIS) project. This project elaborated a definition of abstract suitable for MID and constructed a microcomputer environment that selects elements useful for access and…

Describes a project that improved the quality of BCIN, the bibliographic database of the Conservation Information Network, by correcting data fields and removing duplicate records. The database is described, deduplication theory is discussed and relevant literature is reviewed, algorithm development and testing is described, and results of…

Discussion of human-computer interfaces focuses on the use of graphical and direct manipulation approaches to improve the user interface. Topics discussed include information seeking; computerized search capabilities, including full-text string searches, index searches, and hypertext; Boolean expressions; dynamic or direct manipulation queries;…

Provides a synopsis of a session that addressed the interaction between users of information retrieval systems and intermediaries, including presentations on (1) the role of face-work; (2) user-intermediary-computer interaction; (3) issues of democracy in interpersonal interaction; and (4) a conversation-analytic approach to the pre-online search…

Describes Archie, an electronic indexing service for locating information on the INTERNET. The resource discovery problem addressed by the service is summarized, and instructions for accessing Archie are provided. The current scope of the Archie service and plans for the future are discussed. Other information discovery and delivery tools…

Describes the World-Wide Web (W3) project, which is designed to create a global information universe using techniques of hypertext, information retrieval, and wide area networking. Discussion covers the W3 data model, W3 architecture, the document naming scheme, protocols, document formats, comparison with other systems, experience with the W3…