Describes two computer programs--INDEX and INDEXD--that use statistical information about repeated phrases in documents to automatically index documents at the conceptual level. Sample output of the programs is provided, and plans to combine this method with linguistic and artificial intelligence techniques to provide a general conceptual…

Presents a method for measuring the quality of controlled vocabularies that involves identifying clusters of documents, searching for each document, identifying terms used to index each document, and calculating certain measures to determine indexing quality. The results of a comparison of three library and information science databases using this…

Describes the training and support offered to users upon the implementation of a corporate online text retrieval system, and offers insights from the experience. Areas discussed include training programs and objectives, user support services and support personnel, user documentation, database building, and performance evaluation and measurement.…

Provides a chronology of news library automation and describes the current functions and services of a newspaper library. Areas discussed include clerical tasks, automated clip files, the use of free text searching and field specificity in newspaper databases, the development of online experts, and the impact on the skills required of news…

Explores the qualities of bibliographic and object entities that contribute to the similarities and differences in the data describing them and the possibility of cooperation between indexers of art objects and indexers of bibliographic information. The discussion covers the role of authority control as the linking component between bibliographic…

Explores the underlying concepts involved in the design of art scholarly databases and describes three systems definition projects currently in progress. The discussion covers the revisions of MARC formats and authority controls used in bibliographic information networks that might support an art scholarly database. (eight references) (CLB)

Identifies and describes methods of compiling datasets, search interfaces and etymological metaphors and mythologies of three of the first generation of automated indexing systems: archie, veronica, and robots and search engines. (Author/JKP)

Discusses the results of a survey of 255 librarians and college professors that was conducted to determine their preferences regarding three back-of-the-book index features: word-by-word versus letter-by-letter alphabetizing; line-by-line versus run-on subheading arrangement; and see references versus duplicate entries. (Contains 25 references.)…

Reports on two experiments investigating the relationship between topical subject expertise and the assessment of relevance. Results indicate that topical subject expertise enhances effects of the semantic distance model (SDM), and that relevance assessment is a contingent, psychological phenomenon that is part of the human-perception task of…

Syntagmatic relationships receive less attention than paradigmatic relationships in the development and study of index languages. Exposes misperceptions in linguistic characterization of syntagmatic relationships, and proposes the expansion to include conceptual syntagmatic relationships (CSRs), and characterizes CSRs to determine their role in…

Explains how indexers choose keywords and how results can differ between indexers by focusing on certain properties of the terms rather than on the terms themselves. Based on research in semiotics, cognitive science, discourse analysis, and reading theories. Indexing terms from 833 bibliographic records from an environmental database are analyzed.…

Describes a first-grade project in which students created theme-based picture books. Each student's five- to eight-page book contained a title, picture, informative sentence, and diagram on each page. Students then created tables of contents and alphabetized and indexed their books. (MDM)

Proposes an argumentation-based method for information retrieval that involves representing a scholarly article by means of rhetorical structure rather than by a semantic representation of content. Topics addressed include problems with indexing practices, the argumentative nature of articles, rhetoric as an information categorizing schema, and…

Describes the development of an information retrieval system designed for nonspecialist users that is based on the binary vector model. The syntactic structure of phrases used for indexing is examined, queries using an experimental collection of documents are described, and precision values are examined. (19 references) (LRW)

Five categories of microcomputer software for information storage and retrieval (ISR) are distinguished and characterized: classical retrieval systems; end-user software; indexing programs; full-text retrieval programs; and personal information managers. In addition, the special retrieval techniques of hypertext and best-matched searching are…