Reviews the TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) program, considering the test results, the findings for information retrieval, and the lessons TREC offers for information retrieval evaluation. Topics include the ad hoc retrieval task; indexing models; document and query descriptions; search strategies; and the user's request as the dominant factor in…

Demonstrates how a Web-based information architecture can support sophisticated thesaurus management, authority control and indexing. Examines what resources are available to assist in normalizing Web terminology; methods and tools that can be used for normalizing terms across languages and disciplines; how terminology can assist in Web searching;…

The 11 reports and papers in this booklet were presented at meetings of 4 sections within the Division of Bibliographic Control: (1) "Report of the Section on Cataloguing--Review of the Work 1990/1991" (Inger Cathrine Spangen, Norway); (2) "Les fichiers d'autorite auteurs: Rapport d'activite 1990-1991 (Author Authority Lists: Report…

In today's library environment, the library's most important asset is its machine-readable database. In order to maintain this investment, Data Research Associates provides several comprehensive data conversion services, including retrospective conversion and authority control. For bibliographic records not yet in MARC (machine readable…

The Intergovernmental Records Project (IRP) was established by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to facilitate the exchange of information about federal records. This report focuses on six categories of intergovernmental records targeted by the IRP for description in the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) national…

Information on the 48 courses, workshops, seminars, and other educational opportunities listed in this guide was gathered by questionnaires sent to schools of library and/or information science and organizations sponsoring training opportunities in indexing in the United States and Canada. The definition of indexing used is broad: it includes…

The process of establishing the vertical file for a new branch library is traced; suggestions for making the vertical file a better resource are offered; and guidelines covering the general objective, responsibility for selection and maintenance, principles of selection, and scope of the collection for vertical files are presented. A four-item…

This paper describes online newsmedia databases which have been intentionally designed to respond to needs for information that is more current than the information in printed indexes or online versions of these indexes. It is suggested that these databases are useful to libraries because, in addition to subject indexing, they have "word…

Recent work on the development of Synthesized User Based Terminology Index Languages (SUBTIL), i.e., index and query languages for information systems which employ vocabulary elicited from potential users of the system, is described in this paper. Following a brief review of the literature on thesaurus construction and index languages is a…

Intended to provide the nursing community with a comparative analysis of four major computerized document retrieval systems and one manual system providing coverage of the nursing literature, this study compares the indexing vocabulary, database coverage, and retrieval performance of the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC),…

The development of a large body of e-­learning specifications, such as IMS and SCORM, has led to the proposal for a new way to facilitate content workflow. This involves the movement of educational digital content and the knowledge of pedagogical communities into an online space. Several projects have looked at the theoretical structure of these…

Presented is an analysis of what has been done regarding the preservation of alternative publications in microfilm. The alternative press was defined, for the purposes of this study, as "nonstandard, nonestablishment publications." Two projects undertaken to microfilm such publications, one by the Microphoto Division of Bell and Howell…

The indexing and online searching of data bases have both conflicting and complementary structures, determined in part by the choice of indexing language. In the planning of a machine readable system, the Foundation Center, administrator of two data bases, initially chose a natural language for the lower cost, more rapid implementation, and…

This manual, intended for the librarian or information specialist beginning with online systems, introduces the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) Cataloging and Indexing System (CAIN) and presents the search techniques required for retrieving information on agriculture and its many related fields. The manual, which concentrates on the online…

Programs of the National Library of Medicine over almost a century and a half are described, ranging from a history of American medical literature and the development of medical indexing to modern technological developments. Activities covered include the development of the Toxicology Information Program and the online data base TOXLINE; the…