Results of this study comparing coverage and features of Psychological Abstracts and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) online databases demonstrate a 49 percent citation overlap between the files. A complementary, not competitive, relationship is indicated by comparing citation overlap, journal coverage, descriptive indexing, treatment of…

Considers patent subject searching capabilities of major online databases, noting patent claims, "deep-indexed" files, test searches, retrieval of related references, multi-database searching, improvements needed in indexing of chemical structures, full text searching, improvements needed in handling numerical data, and augmenting a…

Presents a method for identifying indexing terms from word stems, using discriminant analysis to distinguish terms which refer to topics from terms which do not refer to topics. A test of the method on the Harris Survey Question database is discussed. Included are 11 data tables and a reference list. (Author/JL)

Discusses the evolution of the Great Comprehensive Electronic Encyclopedia (GCEE) which would contain everything known to humanity and its potential impact on research and education. The question of who should control access to GCEE and indexing, validation, and selection procedures for materials in its data banks are considered. (AM)

Reports on a comparative study of the postcoordinate retrieval effectiveness of Library of Congress Subject Headings and the Preserved Context Indexing System (PRECIS). Data are presented in six tables and one figure, and a reference list is included. (Author/JL)

Proposes a single underlying structure for the production of a variety of computer index displays, using a networking system which represents both concepts and links by nodes. Desirable characteristics of index displays are outlined, and algorithmic extraction of subnetworks for local use is discussed. References are included. (Author/BK)

Reviews some research on the use of library catalogs in the light of four functions (finding list, gathering, collocating, and evaluative); suggests that access points for each work be increased and that problems involved in entry choice be analyzed further. A list of references is included. (FM)

A series of experiments determined whether thesauri enhance the retrieval of Chinese documents and automatic indexing can compete with manual indexing in a Chinese information retrieval system (CIRS). Statistical analysis of recall and precision measures suggest that relational thesauri do improve retrieval and that automatic indexing is…

Experimental subjects wrote abstracts of an article using a simplified version of the TEXTNET abstracting assistance software; subjects were presented with either keywords or phrases extracted automatically. Results showed considerable variation among subjects, but 37% found the keywords or phrases "quite" or "very" useful in…

Reviews intelligent software agents and their relevance to networked information, particularly concerning future patterns of information gathering in research and education. Discussion of Internet information includes differing interfaces, the need for indexing, and map-making and information overload. Additional highlights include characteristics…

Discussion of hypermedia systems focuses on a comparison of two types of adaptive algorithm (genetic algorithm and neural network) in clustering hypermedia documents. These clusters allow the user to index into the nodes to find needed information more quickly, since clustering is "personalized" based on the user's paths rather than…

Discussion of text analysis and information retrieval and measurement of document similarity focuses on a new text manipulation system called FA (field association)-Sim that is useful for retrieving information in large heterogeneous texts and for recognizing content similarity in text excerpts. Discusses recall and precision, automatic indexing…

Reports on a study of index term selection techniques in a small experimental keyword information retrieval system. Two experiments are described which show that user success is improved by increasing the number of terms per object used. Implications for larger databases are considered. (22 references) (EAM)

Describes a study that compared the coverage of the nursing profession, subject heading specificity, and ease of retrieval of the MEDLINE and Nursing & Allied Health (CINAHL) online databases. The strengths and weaknesses of each database are discussed and hints for searching on both databases are provided. (four references) (CLB)

Describes an examination of the effectiveness of retrieving and ranking records from citation indexes based on the number of references in common with an identified and relevant record. It is concluded that this retrieval method is potentially useful, especially in those searches backward and forward in time that are enabled by the design of…