Advancements in information systems in Latin America have not been matched by similar progress in information science education. Further developmental progress is contingent upon the creation of a research base of information expertise. (RAA)

The main conclusions are: the human factor appears to be the main variable in all components of an information retrieval system; length of indexes affects performance considerably more than indexing languages; question analysis and search strategies affect performance to a great extent - as much, if not more than indexing. (Author/MF)

The rapidly increasing amount of information retrieval experimentation necessitates that considerable attention be paid to the problems of experimental methodology. The authors feel that the generalized and well-known experience in the physical, life and behavioral sciences concerning the role of methodology in scientific research must be applied…

The history and significance of relevance as a concept in information retrieval is reviewed. The shift from the idea of relevance as an objective criterion for measures to the widespread acceptance of relevance as a manifestation of a highly subjective and inconsistent response is discussed. It is argued that relevance judgments can b e useful as…

This experiment used five index languages to form nine different index files to the same collection of documents. Each index term, in each language, was treated in two ways: as an independent English term, and as a coded entry in a faceted-type thesaurus which specified relationships between terms. The performance effect of the thesaurus was then…

This review surveys the literature emanating from less developed countries (LDCs) and international agencies that deals with their perception of the needs of LDCs for scientific and technical information (STI) in relation to social and economic development. It explores five major areas: (1) recognition of STI as it is expressed through…

The Comparative Systems Laboratory (CSL) proposed to deal with the problem of testing retrieval systems by examining a number of processes involved in such systems, with particular attention to the human factor. It is hoped that the results of the project will be useful in refining methodologies for experimentation with information retrieval (IR)…

This survey and analysis of the literature emanating from less developed countries (LDCs) and international agencies focuses on their perceptions of the needs of LDCs for scientific and technical information for social and economic development. Constituencies represented include both users and purveyors of information, and planners and…

Intended as a pilot version, this handbook deals with the consolidation of scientific and technical information, i.e., the purposeful structuring of texts or messages from existing public knowledge in order to affect the private knowledge of individuals who otherwise might not be able to effectively and efficiently access or use the public…

The Comparative Systems Laboratory (CSL) proposed to deal with the problems of testing retrieval systems by examining a number of processes involved in such systems, with particular attention to the human factor. It is hoped that the results of the project will be useful in refining methodologies for experimentation with information retrieval (IR)…