Identifies and discusses the criteria that end users might employ when evaluating a gopher client, particularly for the Windows environment. Topics include cost and availability, help features, functionality, viewing, searching, navigating, bookmarks, retrieving and displaying files, robustness, and gopher clients available via FTP (file transfer…

Surveys theoretical and practical issues associated with pictorial information retrieval. Concentrating on still and moving pictorial forms of the visual image, this paper focuses on indexing pictorial material and discusses four models of pictorial information retrieval corresponding with permutations of the verbal and visual modes for the…

Reviews the development of telecommunications networks and describes current technology being used for online information retrieval. Highlights include use for military and research needs; experiences in Europe versus those in the United States; value-added networks (VANs); local area networks (LANs) and personal computers; and the Integrated…

Describes the hyperterm system REALIST (Retrieval Aids by Linguistics and Statistics) with emphasis on its semantic component, which generates term relations from free-text input. Experiments with various similarity measures are discussed, and the quality of the associated terms is evaluated using term recall and term precision measures. (22…

Proposes a conceptual reference architecture for information retrieval systems and discusses functional capabilities of a hypertext environment, based on the proposed architecture, for interaction with large textual databases. Functions of the prototype system HYPERLINE are described, and an example of a user session is provided. (17 references)…

Describes a method based on Bayesian networks for searching hypertext systems. Discussion covers the use of Bayesian networks for structuring index terms and representing user information needs; use of link semantics based on constrained spreading activation to find starting points for browsing; and evaluation of a prototype system. (64…

Presents a theoretical framework for navigation in information retrieval systems and describes a prototype retrieval system that was developed to investigate navigation. The use of a visual interface in a spatial representation scheme is described, and results of a user-based evaluation of the system are reported. User questionnaires are appended.…

Compares OCLC's competitively priced online search services--EPIC, designed for librarians and experienced searchers, and FirstSearch, designed for end-users. Discussed are databases offered, ease of searching, holdings information, training needs, and pricing. Appendices of available databases and indexes for each service are included. (four…

Discusses search requests in information retrieval systems and describes the development of an algorithm for the automatic construction of query formulations in Boolean form. Topics discussed include user needs, information retrieval languages, online systems, design requirements for the algorithm, and algorithmic functioning in information…

Discusses the use of document outlines to reduce navigation problems in hypertext. Measures of syntactic and lexical balance in an outline are proposed, and the degree to which these balances occur in a sample of documents is shown. Based on balance in an outline, a method for semiautomatically generating an outline is applied to a textbook. (45…

Proposes an automated document classification system based on the Gray code, information-theoretic considerations, and requirements of classification systems including objectivity, inclusion, linearity, and increasing distance-dissimilarity. A measure to evaluate system performance is developed, and the proposed system is compared with the Library…

The integration of optical disk systems employing WORM (Write Once Read Many) technology with CD-ROM systems can enhance information management. Two integrated system applications are the Paperless Ship Project of the U.S. Navy and the FEDLOG (Federal Logistics Data on CD-ROM) of the Defense Logistics Agency. These initiatives are described and…

Describes the use of DVI (Digital Video Interactive) multimedia training systems at Bethlehem Steel. Benefits of multimedia-based training, employee acceptance, advantages of DVI technology, and a recent project using this technology are discussed. A list of seven suggested readings is included. (MES)

Describes HYTELNET, a hypertext utility which facilitates access to INTERNET resources for IBM-PC users. Software development and expansion of the utility from an electronic guide to online library catalogs to a complete directory of Internet sites are discussed. Instructions for retrieving HYTELNET are appended, and 14 references available…

Discusses hypertext and describes three abstract models that represent different levels in the design-decision process necessary for effective hypertext development. The use of information management software is discussed; combining hypertext and information retrieval models is considered; and opportunities for hypertext are described, including…