Defines and discusses bibliometrics, particularly as carried out in automated systems. The specific requirements to which data should conform to support bibliometric analysis are detailed and explained, and the Intelligent Gateway of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is described. (15 references) (Author/CLB)

A step-by-step outline is presented for testing the applicability of Lotka's law of scientific productivity. Steps include the computation of the values of the exponent and constant based on Lotka's method and the test for significance of observed frequency distribution against the estimated theoretical distribution derived from Lotka's formula.…

Suggests structure based on two sets of principles for deriving meaning from data: Shannon's measure of entropy, which provides means of measuring amount of information in message; and Ranganathan's faceted classification scheme, which provides means of determining number of meaningful data. Syntax, meaning, and semantics of data are discussed.…

Proposes a method for correcting spelling errors found in electronic documents which is derived from a logical analysis of the problem. Similarity relations and character string matching are discussed, the use of PROLOG is described, suggestions for further research are made, and a literature review is included. (47 references) (Author/LRW)

Using examples of data from the areas of information retrieval and of multivariate data analysis, six hierarchic clustering algorithms (single link, median, centroid, group average, complete link, Wards's) are examined and evaluated by using three proposed coefficients of hierarchic structure. Nine references are cited. (EJS)

Analyzes a large sample of spelling errors taken from free writing to assess how great a challenge such errors present for automatic checking and correction. Analysis of results reveals a high proportion of errors that match dictionary works, necessitating the use of the word in context to detect errors. (Author/LRW)

Results of an investigation designed to determine whether the impact factor or the immediacy index--two derivative measures of citation analysis--provide useful insights into qualitative relationships among scientific journals indicate that neither measure is significant. (MBR)

Presents a mathematical theory that can be used to define concentration places of objects within unordered classes. The application to research on the evolution of journals and subject areas is illustrated, and an online method of calculating concentration evolution is described. (1 references) (CLB)

Discusses properties of multiple attribute tree (MAT) and inverted file structures; establishes suitability of MAT data structure for bibliographic files using worst-case performance measures; provides arguments to establish MAT average case superiority; and proposes an efficient adaptation of MAT data structure to exploit special features of MAT…

Examines relationships among the parameters of the Zipf size-frequency distribution as well as its sampling properties. Highlights include its importance in bibliometrics, tables for the sampling distribution of the maximal value of a finite Zipf distribution, and an approximation formula for confidence intervals. (Author/LRW)

The approach of J. D. Sneed is used to argue for a distinction between theoretical and nontheoretical (or empirical) entities. Attention is directed toward this approach as an important facility for looking at statistics and for constructing a framework for the correct use of statistical theory in information retrieval experiments. (MBR)

Describes a generic software tool, Objective-C, that detects and corrects data inconsistency in databases. In this study, heterogeneous bibliographic information is integrated by using the message-object model to implement data abstraction methodologies. Citation translation problems are discussed and future directions for research are suggested.…

Explains an experiment in text-searching retrieval for cancer questions which developed and used computer procedures (via human simulation) to select search words from medical dictionaries. This study is based on an earlier one in which search words were humanly selected, and the recall results of the two studies are compared. (Author/LRW)

Empirical significance of document partitions is investigated as a function of index term-weight and similarity thresholds. Results show the same empirically preferred partitions can be detected by two independent strategies: an analysis of cluster-based retrieval analysis and an analysis of regularities in the underlying structure of the document…

Describes the two basic approaches to the calculation of term discrimination values for automatic indexing. The results of an experiment that investigated the differences between algorithms of these two approaches in terms of their impact on the discrimination value model are reported and discussed. (13 references) (Author/CLB)