Introduces the multicharacter trie as an index structure that can improve the time needed for retrieving full-text materials stored on CD-ROMs. The advantages of this structure compared to other structures are described, and experimental results comparing it to the widely used B+ tree and other structures used for full-text retrieval are…

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)

Argues for a definition of information based on the facts and data contained within scientific documents, and which are consistent with their conceptual interrelationships. The scope and limitations of the definition are discussed, and analyses of the information content of a scientific paper and an abstract are appended. References are provided.…

Presents the state-of-the-art of information systems monitoring, addressing historical and current approaches and manual and automated techniques; develops the concept of automated monitoring into a well-defined methodology; formulates methodologies/techniques/theoretical foundations for analyzing monitored data; and discusses computer based…

Discussion of retrieval overlap and relevant overlap focuses on an analysis of data from an earlier study on overlap among document representations. This new analysis investigated the odds that an item was judged relevant when it was retrieved by two search fields as opposed to being retrieved by only one field. (Contains 17 references.) (LRW)

Presents and discusses implications of a set of measures of information. Definitions of relevant terms, including fact, data, representation, information, and knowledge, are given; four levels of processing data are explained (i.e., data transfer, data selection, data analysis, and data reduction); and relationships between information and…

This analysis of information contents of documents (i.e., network of nodes which represent facts reported therein and their conceptual interconnections) yields a method for quantitative measurement of such content. Basic premises, calculation, salient features of the method, and information theories are discussed. Four references, graphic…

Explores the new storage technology of optical data disks and introduces a data structure, the inverted signature tree, for storing data on optical data disks for efficient text searching. The inverted signature tree approach is compared to the use of text signatures and the B+ tree. (22 references) (Author/CLB)

Describes an interface mechanism called "complex view support" to be used with a relational database system (RDBS) in supporting increasingly complex distributed environments in automated library systems. The interface system refers queries to multidimensional tables as well as to flat tables on RDBS and is shown to efficiently support…

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.…

Summarizes the findings of a recent study on the indexing practices used in the Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) database. Descriptors, or indexing terms, from the thesaurus are analyzed; searching implications are discussed; and the relationship between the classification code and the descriptors is examined. (Contains 21…

Demonstrates visualization techniques using the tuple frequency method that helps organize data generated in computational studies of literary style. Two-dimensional representations of the style of the authors of "The Federalist Papers" are explained that were used to determine the authorship of unattributed papers. (Contains 13…

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)