Reports a preliminary investigation into the man-machine interaction aspects of online searching, including the methodology developed for observing and recording man-machine interface in the use of online information retrieval systems. Three references are cited, and a bibliography lists 16 sources. (FM)

Discussion of users of information retrieval systems focuses on a machine-learning approach to inferring the user's context in the Okapi system. Results of an evaluation experiment are given, and it is concluded that context learning can help information retrieval systems adapt to users' particular queries. (Author/LRW)

Presents an efficient spoken-access approach for both Chinese text and Mandarin speech information retrieval. Highlights include human-computer interaction via voice input, speech query recognition at the syllable level, automatic term suggestion, relevance feedback techniques, and experiments that show an improvement in the effectiveness of…

This study of scholars' judgments of information quality and cognitive authority when interacting with information on the World Wide Web is based on data from verbal protocols during the searches, search logs, and post-search interviews. Discusses predictive judgments made before scholars looked at Web pages and evaluative judgments made after.…

This paper discusses the complexity of explanation activity in human-human goal-directed dialogue and suggests that this complexity ought to be taken into account in the design of explanation in human-computer interaction. A general model of clarity in human-computer systems is proposed, incorporating explanation as one component. On the basis of…

Requirements are discussed for an information retrieval language that enables users to employ natural language sentences in interaction with computer-stored files. Anticipated modes of operation of the system are outlined. These are: the search mode, the dictionary mode, the tables mode, and the statistical mode. Analysis of sample sentences…

This thesis describes work done as part of the Video Console Indexing Project (VICI), a program to improve the quality and reduce the time and work involved in indexing documents. The objective of the work described was to design a video terminal system which could be connected to a main computer to provide rapid natural communication between the…

A user-oriented computer-based information retrieval system which would not require a computer specialist as an interface between computer and user was developed. The PLATO system was chosen because it was a high-speed computer-based man-machine interaction system with convenient visual display, keyset input device, versatile programing…

The contradictory nature of the phrase user-oriented interface (UOI) as commonly applied to retrieval systems is discussed, and a different approach to the problem made feasible through improvements in the technology is described. (Author/JPF)

This bibliography provides citations to 74 articles which compare either single databases across different systems or different databases to each other. All articles included were published after 1976 in Database, Online, Online Review, or the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. A subject index is provided. (EJS)

Introduces a generic, application-independent model of human-computer information-seeking dialog, the Conversational Roles (COR) Model, and reviews the theoretical background. COR is represented as a recursive state-transition-network that determines legitimate types and possible sequences of dialog acts, and categorizes dialog acts on the basis…

Describes two systems--Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) and Rosebud--that provide protocol-based mechanisms for accessing remote full-text information servers. Design constraints, human interface design, and implementation are examined for five interfaces to these systems developed to run on the Macintosh or Unix terminals. Sample screen…

Discusses artificial intelligence (AI) and considers four potential roles for AI in information retrieval (IR): (1) information characterization, i.e., building a knowledge base; (2) information seeking, i.e., search formulation; (3) support functions, including abstracting; and (4) systems integration. Three examples are given that show how AI…

Methods used to encourage engineers to use the IBM Technical Information Retrieval Center are described. (PF)

A project at the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources has resulted in the extension of the ERIC database to microcomputer. Small subject-related files for current-awareness purposes are downloaded from the ERIC tapes and are made available for searching with Apple II Plus microcomputers. Since the target audience for this system is…