Distinguishes between document-oriented and user-oriented indexing and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of request-oriented and automated indexing. Request-oriented indexing is difficult to implement with human, a priori indexing. Automated indexing can be tailored to individual requests, but most research in this area focuses on global…

Discusses standards as tools to promote compatibility and improve practice, the role of research versus expert opinion in creating standards, and the changing scope of indexing standards. The current draft of the NISO (National Information Standards Organization) American Standard Guidelines for Indexes in Information Retrieval (Z39.4) is…

Suggests the designation of overlapping hierarchies in thesauri, first outlined in 1973, as a key element in progress towards a successful man-machine partnership. Article updates, expands, and provides theoretical background of 1973 proposal; postulates use of the UDC; and suggests means of distinguishing overlapping terms from other…

Describes MANIS, an information system for retrieval of interdisciplinary information in management, which maintains traditional classification but allows the user to combine terms of his choice, where choice is restricted to terms belonging to the systems of traditional classification. (CWM)

Reexamines the utility of edge-notched cards as an inexpensive alternative to computers for indexing small specialized collections. Five references are listed. (RAA)

Discusses theoretical considerations of indexing as a part of information retrieval theory. Topics discussed include mentalist proposals; text representation and knowledge representation; rules of grammar and syntax; linguistic theory; philosophical theories of Wittgenstein regarding rules; retrieval practices; and the formation of rules in…

Discussion of electronic image processing focuses on the need for indexing to ensure adequate retrieval. Highlights include icons, i.e., reduced pictorial surrogates; file staging; indexing languages, including examples of thesauri; and pictorial languages, including a HyperCard system. (Contains eight references.) (LRW)

Compares two information retrieval systems, CLARIT and TOPIC, in terms of assigned versus derived and precoordinate versus postcoordinate indexing. Models of information retrieval systems are discussed, and a test of the systems using a demonstration database of full-text articles from the "Wall Street Journal" is described. (Contains 21…

Holds that database producers and online system vendors have failed to maintain sufficient quality control over their products, and that online searchers should voice their complaints about file documentation errors, indexing inconsistencies, and incorrect data entries. (FM)

Reviews the conceptual foundations of hypertext as developed by Vannevar Bush and discusses current applications of hypertext as information vision, database technique, and computer user interface. Criticisms of this indexing technique, its technological limitations, and possible future applications are discussed. (two references) (CLB)

Proposes indexing technical information by function and attribute instead of indexing by subject to increase retrieval efficiency. Reasons for the lack of accurate and comprehensive technical product information in databases and the need for an improvement in reference services are discussed. (RBF)

Discusses ambiguities in the terminology used for information retrieval in counseling and related fields, including disagreements over which terms to use, meanings of terms, and relationships between terms. The nature, causes, and consequences of these problems are considered and some solutions are offered, with special reference to the…

Discusses the need to retrieve ideas in addition to content retrieval by such means as classification, subject headings, and keywords. Three models for idea retrieval are described, and a new model is proposed which combines selection, a controlled vocabulary, and logical structure. (seven references) (CLB)

Discussion of the failure of individual keywords to identify conceptual content of documents in retrieval systems highlights Metric Similarity Modeling, a method for creating vector space representation of documents based on modeling target interdocument similarity values. Semantic relatedness, latent semantic indexing, an indexing and retrieval…

Discusses how to make better indexes for online documentation. (SR)