Describes a project that was designed to test the relative efficacy of index terms and full-text for the retrieval of documents in MEDLINE journals. Precision and relevance of citations retrieved from full-text databases versus bibliographic databases is discussed, and the addition of MEDLINE indexing to enhance full-text medical journals is…

A meta-analytical literature review was performed on the literature in which computerized and paper based information retrieval systems were compared. Specifically, online catalogs were compared with card catalogs, and online bibliographic retrieval was compared with searching printed indexes. Studies which included information on relevance,…

Describes a study that investigated index access to the literature of recruitment of minorities to the library science profession by comparing 12 representative articles from "Library and Information Science Abstracts" (LISA) and "Library Literature." Underrepresentation of minorities and the issue of recruitment of minorities…

Compares free text versus controlled vocabulary searching for information relating to women's issues on the ERIC laserdisk database from Dialog. Topics discussed include terminology and women's studies; Boolean operators; and adequacy of the ERIC thesaurus for searching relevant topics including women's social roles, antiabortion movement, teenage…

To compare the value of subject descriptors and title keywords as entries to subject searches, two studies were conducted, both concentrating on monographs in the humanities and social sciences held by online public access catalog of the National Library of the Netherlands. (Author/AEF)

Considers comparative prices for bibliographic data on CD-ROM and in print. Topics addressed include differences in the nature of bibliographic data in the two media, the relative complexities of pricing structure, varying policies on network pricing, and standardization of the licensing arrangement. (KRN)

Designed to evaluate the usefulness of the BIOSIS PREVIEWS database when searching the psychiatric literature, this study compared the effectiveness of this online database with the effectiveness of two other computerized databases, MEDLINE and PsycINFO (Psychological Abstracts), which psychiatric researchers and clinicians usually rely on when…

The effectiveness of using the age of references to control the exhaustivity of the reference representation in information retrieval was investigated through analysis of optimal cluster-based retrieval results. The results show that the foreground representation at its optimal level of exhaustivity is restricted to references with ages less than…

Describes a study conducted at Illinois State University that compared the results achieved by library users searching the ERIC database on CD-ROM with the results achieved by individual and teamed skilled intermediaries. Evaluation of library services is discussed, patron search strategies are examined, and strategies for improving patron…

Describes a survey of library systems and software vendors that examined the sources, management, and use of authority records in their systems and the functions of an authority control module within an integrated system. Several tables and graphs offer summaries and comparisons of vendors' offerings and capabilities. The questionnaire used is…

Provides an overview of the problems with information retrieval in psychology, based on the examination of the search strategy used for a dissertation. The discussion illustrates the usefulness of a facet model for formulating search strategies for psychology literature reviews, using the same dissertation as an example. (15 references) (CLB)

Evaluates the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. Summarizes ERIC's history and organization, and discusses criticisms concerning access, currency, and database content. Reviews role of component clearinghouses, indexing practices, thesaurus structure, international coverage, and comparative studies. Finds ERIC a valuable…

This study reports and compares patron usage rates from January 1987 to May 1988 for three separate ERIC database systems at the library at Texas Woman's University (TWU): (1) online searches of the ERIC file through the mainframe computers of DIALOG Information Services (DIALOG ERIC), which are offered in the library reference department by…

Describes an experiment that examined the relationship between successful searching of CD-ROM databases by undergraduate students and various types of instruction provided by the library staff. The findings indicate that the only level of instruction that resulted in a significant difference was a live demonstration of searches. (six references)…

Demonstrates a means for estimating the number of retrieved items using well-established selective dissemination of information (SDI) profiles in the SCI, INSPEC, ISMEC, CAS, and PASCAL databases. A correlation between individual database size and number of retrieved documents in technical fields is also examined. (17 references) (LAE)