Purpose: The paper aims to assess the utility of non-agriculture-specific information systems, databases, and respective controlled vocabularies (thesauri) in organising and retrieving agricultural information. The purpose is to identify thesaurus-linked tree structures, controlled subject headings/terms (heading words, descriptors), and principal…

The University of Michigan Library wanted to learn more about the kinds of searches its users were conducting through the "one search" search box on the Library Web site. Library staff conducted two investigations. A preliminary investigation in 2011 involved the manual review of the 100 most frequently occurring queries conducted…

The logic of different types of weighting are discussed, and experiments testing weighting schemes of these types are described. The results show that one type of weighting leads to material performance improvements in quite different collection environments. (22 references) (Author)

This study investigates the relationships between the use of a zoom tool, the terms they supply to describe the image, and the type of image being viewed. Participants were assigned to two groups, one with access to the tool and one without, and were asked to supply terms to describe forty images, divided into four categories: landscape, portrait,…

The four chapters included in this report are based on LINCS project activities undertaken since 1968, with an emphasis on indexing tools in the language sciences and related problems. Chapter one, "Indexing Tools for the Language Sciences: Methodology," discusses the development of a LINCS thesaurus and its role in the LINCS network.…

Describes a microcomputer-based string index format generated from concept networks using multiple search terms. Link weighting is highlighted as a method to decide which term appears first so the entry reflects the classification implied by the search specification. The computer software used for this system is briefly described. (Author/LRW)

Explains seven types of subject descriptions commonly used in databases--hierarchical classification, category codes, subject headings, descriptors, faceted classification, post-controlled vocabulary, and natural language--and describes specific search techniques for taking advantage of the strengths of particular types of vocabularies. An overall…

An investigation was made of the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) as an indexing language for computer retrieval. Problem areas were identified (notation, schedules, application), new developments reviewed (combining precedence devices, subject analysis matrices, guidelines for schedule revision, pilot schedules, parenthesis-free notation…

Knowledge of empirical research has become important for everyone involved in education and special education. Policy, practice, and informed reporting rely on locating and understanding unfiltered, original source material. Although access to vast amounts of research has been greatly facilitated by online databases, such as ERIC and PsychInfo,…

Two articles provide: (1) instructions for gaining telecommunications access to CHILDES, a child language database; and (2) the conventions guiding transcript coding in the database. The first article provides access instructions for telecommunications systems, the commands a user would need to know, and brief notes on searching and other aspects…

This document is the newest revision of the third manual documenting the National Agricultural Library database. Since it began in 1970, the AGRICOLA database has continued to grow and to change steadily; new subfiles have been added, database record formats have been expanded, and subject category code schemes have been modified several times.…

Indexing is the preprocessing of information to enable its retrieval, ranging from classification-based (precoordinate) to keyword searching (postcoordinate) approaches. This article describes a framework for modelling information retrieval systems in terms of sets of objects, relationships, and functions and discusses the application of indexing…

Describes indexes to Web resources that have been created by librarians to be more discriminating than the usual Web search engines, some of which are organized by standard classification systems. Includes indexes by solo librarians as well as by groups of librarians, some in public libraries and some in higher education. (LRW)

Reviews previous work on producing knowledge by the use of information retrieval or classification schemes, and describes techniques by which hidden knowledge may be retrieved, i.e., serendipity in browsing and use of appropriate search strategies. Possible future methods based on relational indexing or artificial intelligence are also explored.…

An unofficial bibliographic index of ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) documents related to the field of humanistic education has been compiled and arranged by project subject reference title, project reference number, ERIC document number, year, and book title identifier. Included are 148 documents arranged by 34 subject categories.…