The purpose of this project was to provide guidance to ERIC on how to facilitate product information retrieval. Information on practitioner needs, on the use of descriptors and abstracting procedures, and on alternatives for improving the system was gathered and circulated to NIE staff members. The resulting document described three alternative…

Describes a study which demonstrates that unintended logical connections within scientific literature, which potentially reveal new knowledge, are unmarked by reference citations or other bibliographic clues. Citation analysis of two separate literatures in biomedicine that have a logical link is used to support this hypothesis. (Author/CLB)

Explores the use of discourse anaphora in scientific abstracts and presents rules to be used for distinguishing anaphoric functioning of terms. The results of tests using these rules are reported, and the implications for natural language understanding, question answering, automatic extracting, query analysis, and bibliographic retrieval are…

This examination of the knowledge base needed for professional careers in the subject control of information identifies some of the problems involved in educating and training graduates for working in this area and poses some solutions to these problems. (Author/CLB)

Presents a model for the design of online catalog subject access based on three principles: the uncertainty of subject indexing, the need for greater variety in searcher's queries, and the complexity of the search process. The proposed system is based on existing Library of Congress subject cataloging. (EM)

Describes MEDOC, an index to U.S. government documents in health sciences produced at the Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah. Both the development of the index from an in-house catalog into a subscription service, and the application of computer technologies in its production are discussed. (CLB)

Discusses design, development, and use of a database to provide organization and access to a computer software collection at the University of Hawaii School of Library Studies. Field specifications, samples of report forms, and a description of the physical organization of the software collection are included. (MBR)

Reports research results into a methodology for determining similarity between queries characterized by Boolean search request formulations and discusses similarity measures for Boolean combinations of index terms. Rationale behind these measures is outlined, and conditions ensuring their equivalence are identified. Results of an experiment…

Presents abstracts of SIG Sessions. Highlights include digital collections; information retrieval methods; public interest/fair use; classification and indexing; electronic publication; funding; globalization; information technology projects; interface design; networking in developing countries; metadata; multilingual databases; networked…

Explores to what extent the germ theory, when it was still a relatively new idea, is evident in the bibliographic records in the "Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office of the United States Army" (Index Cat), the largest medical bibliographical tool ever published. Data suggest that scientists are quick to apply the new…

Provides a method for estimating precision without examining individual database documents, which requires knowledge of only the query or expressed information need and a set of database parameters constant for all queries. Concepts of historic and expected precision are examined, and applications of precision-document graphs are assessed. (36…

Addresses problems with automated bibliographic and full-text storage of scientific articles. The role of the scientific article is described, the structure is explained, current indexing and information retrieval techniques are criticized, new possibilities using a rhetoric syntax or argumentational syntax are explored, and the use of hypertext…

Argues that catalogers must exercise new skills to effectively and efficiently create bibliographic records to be used in online catalogs. Subtle changes in the approaches to subject and descriptive cataloging are suggested, and catalogers are encouraged to rely on both cataloging rules and their own judgment. The National Coordinated Cataloging…

Describes a study that investigated the feasibility of using computers to teach music notation systems to Chinese students, as well as to help Western educators study Chinese music and its number notation system. Topics discussed include students' learning sequences; HyperCard software; hypermedia and graphic hypertext indexing; and the…

Reports on tests evaluating nine microcomputer software packages designed for information storage and retrieval: BRS-Search, dtSearch, InfoBank, Micro-OPC, Q&A, STN-PFS, Strix, TINman, and ZYindex. Tables and narrative evaluations detail results related to security, hardware, user features, search capability, indexing, input, maintenance of files,…