A comparative evaluation of results in terms of recall and precision from queries submitted to systems with automatic and manual subject indexing. Differences were attributed to query formulation. The effectiveness of automatic indexing was found equivalent to manual indexing. (Author/KP)

This report summarizes the work carried out on the automatic construction of keyword classifications and their use in information retrieval. It discusses the possible characteristics of such classifications, and potential ways of using them; and describes the various approaches to classification that were considered in terms of an overall frame of…

The development of an automatic indexing technique, called Double KWIC (DKWIC) Coordinate Indexing, is described which extends the KWIC indexing principles to provide easy access to an additional level of specificity for information indexed under these frequently appearing terms. Chapter 2 discusses indexing terminology and some fundamental…

Analyzes a study of the effect of controlled variations in indexing vocabulary size on retrieval performance, using the Cranfield 200 and 1400 test collections. Sets of variable-length character strings were tested, in an application of the Cluster Hypothesis and in a series of linear associative retrieval experiments. (Author/SW)

A report of several comparisons designed to measure the retrieval effectiveness of machined-aided indexing and manual indexing. (Author)

Presents criteria for an effective syntagmatic relator system and describes how conceptual syntagmatic relationships are expressed in natural language, commenting on the adequacy of such expressions for document retrieval systems. Only one type of expression, a gestalt structure, represented as a frame, conforms to the criteria. (Author/JKP)

Farradane's relational indexing appeared applicable to the scientific area of the properties of metals and gave good results with a greater depth of indexing. (Author/PF)

Four papers are included in Part One of the eighteenth report on Salton's Magical Automatic Retriever of Texts (SMART) project. The first paper: "Content Analysis in Information Retrieval" by S. F. Weiss presents the results of experiments aimed at determining the conditions under which content analysis improves retrieval results as well…

Describes the use of FAMULUS, a database management system, to teach library science students at Case Western Reserve University indexing, computerized file construction, and online information retrieval. The special features of FAMULUS and their use in course instruction are outlined and evaluated. A 19-item reference list is attached. (Author/JL)

The use of a structured system of storing information, particularly relational indexing, can lead to situations in which items would not be retrieved due to technicalities of the system. To overcome such problems a study was made of condensations with the aim of providing a series of rules to apply. (4 references) (Author/SJ)

There are six major studies of the effect of indexing depth on retrieval performance. They differ in purpose, methodology, measures, indexing language, field of study, and data base--nevertheless, all have found depth of indexing to have the same effect upon information retrieval. (13 references) (Author/NH)

Describes results of a study that investigated the effect of variations in indexing exhaustivity on retrieval performance in a vector space retrieval system. The test collection of documents in the National Library of Medicine's Medline file indexed under cystic fibrosis is described, and use of the SMART information retrieval system is discussed.…

Reports on the progress of the natural language information retrieval project, a joint effort led by GE (General Electric) Research, and its evaluation at the sixth TREC (Text Retrieval Conference). Discusses stream-based information retrieval, which uses alternative methods of document indexing; advanced linguistic streams; weighting; and query…

Examines statistical techniques for exploiting relevance information to weight search terms. These techniques are presented as a natural extension of weighting methods using information about the distribution of index terms in documents in general. (Author)

The relevance assessments belonging to the Cranfield II document/query collection are shown to be faulty, in the sense that many" relevant documents were not so identified by the Cranfield judges. 9 references. (Author)