The main purpose of the experiment was to answer the question whether broad or narrow terms function most effectively in the retrieval of relevant documents. The answer depends on what the user of the retrieval system wants, his wants being expressed in terms of stated precision-recall preference, or by the exact number of relevant documents he…

The application of computer technology to storage and retrieval of geoscience data has increased markedly since about 1966, and has resulted in the publication of numerous papers describing various aspects of this work. Unfortunately, these are widely dispersed in the literature, many in relatively obscure journals, proceedings and other sources.…

Two specific approaches of how to evaluate an information retrieval system are explored. The first is a mathematical model for use in studying how to minimize operating costs. The model provides a method for comparative evaluation between systems. The cost model divides the costs of a retrieval system into two components: system costs and user…

Intrex is an experimental bibliographic and full text storage and retrieval system which has advanced the concept of the on-line interactive search of a computer stored bibliographic data base and the on-line access to a microfiche document storage. The Intrex system includes a set of computer programs designed for information retrieval, a…

The Third Cranfield Conference on Mechanised Information Storage and Retrieval Systems was held on 20-23 July 1971 in Cranfield, England. The report describes a number of the key papers presented at this conference. (Author)

A manual describing the RIC computer search program for retrieval of information from ERIC, CIJE, and other collections is presented. It is pointed out that two versions of this program have been developed. The first is for an IBM 360/370 computer. This version has been operational on a production basis for nearly a year. Four installations of…

The ability of various Aerospace Materials Information Center (AMIC) information specialists to prepare search strategies for document retrieval was studied by providing ten typical search request statements to seven information specialists. Each specialist prepared search strategies independently. Significant variations occurred among the…

A model of a generalized information storage and retrieval system is proposed. The model consists of six subsystems (or blocks): logical processor, selector, descriptor, file, locator, document file, and analysis block. These subsystems function in a partial environment defined by the user and data blocks. Proceeding from a verbal description, a…

A retrieval system is considered in which document descriptions are stored and accessed in groups called clusters. All items in a cluster meet common similarity criteria and are represented by a composite entity called a profile. In large collections, profiles themselves are clustered and additional levels of profiles are generated. This entire…

Presents the "Evidence-of-Existence" information system in which the structure is developed, with application of cybernetic concepts, as an isomorphic model in analogy to the system structure of communication technology. Three criteria of structuring are postulated: (1) source-channel-sink, with input-output characteristics, (2) filter-type…

Suggests that a possible reason for receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curves having a slope other than unity when plotted on Normal-deviate axes is that the dichotomy into relevant and nonrelevant items is artificial, and that there is really a bivariate distribution of objective relevance and relevance as assessed by the information…

The paper describes a computerized system designed to provide a quick and economical method of in-depth access to individual publications. It is currently operating in a network configuration in Ontario and Quebec, and independently in other Canadian and United States libraries. (Author/JAB)

This study examined the effectiveness using an automatic algorithm to rank the results of Boolean searches of an inverted file design document retrieval system. Relevant documents were ranked significantly higher than nonrelevant documents on output lists. (Author/KP)

The operations of the New England Research Application Center's IBM 1130 are described and the problems of using it for chemical information retrieval are discussed. (Author/JB)

Two systems, WLN and Ringcode, for retrieving structural information were analyzed qualitatively and evaluated for a series of chemical compounds. The studies ranged from specific to generic questions and also involved retrieval by fragments. Neither system was completely satisfactory for all types of searches. (6 references) (Author)