Precoordination of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), in both the LCSH thesaurus and online public access catalog (OPAC) browse displays, continues to be necessary for several reasons: (1) the meaning of thousands of LCSH headings depends on their word order in ways that cannot be captured by postcoordinate Boolean combinations or by…

Describes technique for automatic book indexing requiring dictionary of terms with text strings that count as instances of term and text in form suitable for processing by text formatter. Results of experimental application to portion of book text are presented, including measures of precision and recall. Ten references are noted. (EJS)

Discusses methods of weighting of descriptors in document search patterns together with the concept of relative indexing and conditions which should be satisfied by descriptor weight. A procedure for modifiying document search patterns based on users' informational needs and opinions is outlined, and examples are given. Sixteen references are…

Discusses future of online information retrieval systems in terms of types of computer hardware expected (noting size, memory, cost, microcomputers, peripherals); software expected; "user friendly" interfaces designed to enable users to search without special training; and new approaches to subject analysis and online searching.…

Discusses forces at work within today's on-line data base environment which could lead to the emergence of a distributed information network; identifies several important modules in such a network, including an automated subject switching module; and reports research investigations, critical issues, and preliminary findings with regard to…

Authority records were compared for established headings that are identical in "Library of Congress Subject Headings" (LCSH, 18th edition) and "Moving-Image Materials: Genre Terms" (MIM). Both quantitatively and qualitatively, pairs of identical headings differ sufficiently from each other that the creation of authority records…

Discusses the role of end users in the design of a multi-format digital library project, ISLA (name derived from Spanish word for "island"), being developed at the University of Southern California library for the study of the Los Angeles region. Topics include spatial and temporal indexing; the geographic information system element;…

Documents the reasons for embargoes of academic journals in full text databases (i.e., publisher-imposed delays on the availability of full text content) and provides insight regarding common misconceptions. Tables present data on selected journals covering a cross-section of subjects and publishers and comparing two full text business databases.…

Explores creating a thesaurus from a cognitive viewpoint, based on a system that organizes its knowledge representation/classification according to the authors' and users' images of the subject domain, in order to increase user-text interaction. Discusses the general framework, methods for implementing author-text structures, and an approach…

Offers criteria for the critical evaluation of CD-ROM encyclopedias. Differences between CD-ROM and print encyclopedias are discussed; search strategies are explained; evaluation criteria are suggested, including help messages, screen format, indexing method, and graphics and print options; future considerations are suggested, including…

Presents an analytical approach to the interpretation of weighted Boolean queries. By distinguishing query term weights from query weights, a query becomes a means of describing classes of ideal documents and expressing relativity criteria among these descriptions. A formalization of query term weights is given in a fuzzy set theoretical context.…

Describes the mechanistic model of language on which automatic indexing is based, and examines the underlying assumptions of the model to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of this indexing. It is argued that theoretical research from the fields of linguistics, psychology, and philosophy need to be incorporated into automatic indexing to overcome…

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…

Measures classification and subject cataloging errors in entry-level copy cataloging done by 20 library school students. Discusses the need to educate and train students on the importance of using subject-heading cataloging tools to create records. Explains the connection between classification, subject cataloging, and subject access by library…

Describes a study of 20 American historians that was conducted to better understand the nature of research in history. Highlights include choice of research topics, use of archives, writing habits, use of computers, the classification of historical knowledge, implications for libraries, and suggestions for future studies. (43 references) (LRW)