History, development, evaluation, and problems of computerized biomedical information systems, with emphasis on the National Library of Medicine and MEDLARS. (LS)

Discusses the importance of machine-readable data files (MRDF) in social sciences reference exchange and provides examples of their use in typical library settings. Access to and available MRDF are described. Nine references are included. (EJS)

Overview of the federal statistical system covers the central coordinating office, data access policy, "Directory of Federal Statistical Data Files," and effect of technology on data use. Source documents which aid in assessing social statistics are listed. A sample abstract from the directory and six references are appended. (EJS)

Union catalogs and distributed search systems are two ways users can locate materials in print and electronic formats. This article examines the advantages and limitations of both approaches and argues that they should be considered complementary rather than competitive. Discusses technologies creating linkage between catalogs and databases and…

Reviews template mining research and shows how templates are used in World Wide Web search engines and metasearch engines for helping end-users generate natural language search expressions. Potential areas of application of template mining for extraction of information from digital documents are highlighted, and how such applications are used is…

Describes a system called CINDI (Concordia INdexing and DIscovery System) for cataloging and searching documents in a distributed virtual library. The document author registers metadata in the form of a semantic header that contains information on syntactic and semantic content, and an expert system fills the semantic header according to accepted…

Discussion of the organization of the University of British Columbia Data Library jointly operated by the University Library and Computing Center covers historical development, collections policy, composition of the collection, technical services, user services, and current issues. Six references are cited. (EJS)

Analysis of one component of library reference service--online numeric database systems for time-series data--reviews tradition of reference service and ways in which computer technology has enhanced provision of library services. Experiences with Kentucky Economic Information System (KEIS) are described. Examples of KEIS and 30 references are…

Describes a project at the British Architectural Library to automate all of its systems into one integrated database, maintaining the specific requirements of the architectural curator while introducing systems and standards accepted by the librarian. The discussion covers the methods used to achieve a link between objects and documentation. (CLB)

Based on coexistence frequency of pairs of words or phrases, coword analysis is used to discover linkages among subjects in a research field and thus to trace the development of science. This article reviews the development of coword analysis, summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of this method, and discusses several research issues.…

Addresses importance of online databases as part of library reference collection and focuses on bibliographic databases (ready reference, print versus online migration, bibliographic utilities); selection/evaluation of online databases (vendor selection, individual databases); full-text databases; numeric databases; end-user searching; and use of…

Addresses the problem of how to find interesting but previously unknown implicit information within the scientific literature. The use of software, called Arrowsmith, that can create suggestive juxtapositions of Medline records to help biomedical researchers detect new and useful relationships, is described. Contains 34 references. (Author/MES)

Comments on court cases dealing with copyrighted materials of special interest to librarians highlight Williams and Wilkins case, Sony case dealing with videocopying, computer programs and databases, government and legal materials in public domain, musical works, and four factors of Section 107 (fair use) of 1976 Copyright Law. (109 references)…

Describes various stages involved in the applications of electronic media to the publishing industry. Highlights include computer typesetting, or photocomposition; machine-readable databases; the distribution of publications in electronic form; computer conferencing and electronic mail; collaborative authorship; hypertext; hypermedia publications;…

Discusses the role of visual images in the classification of art objects and the research needs of art historians in the context of the design of current printed resources and online databases in this discipline. The topics covered include the need for illustrated online reference works and appropriate indexing for access to bibliographic sources.…