Explains intelligent agents, special software tools that help make the Web more interactive by helping with information retrieval. Describes major types of agents, including search agents and agents for specialized tasks including monitors and knowledge management; and lists relevant Web sites. (LRW)

Discusses subject gateway sites and commercial search engines for the Web and presents an explanation of Google's PageRank algorithm. The principle question addressed is the conditions under which a gateway site will increase the likelihood that a target page is found in search engines. (LRW)

Metasearching of online current news services is a potentially useful Web application of distributed information retrieval techniques. Reports experiences in building a metasearcher designed to provide up-to-date searching over a significant number of rapidly changing current news sites, focusing on how to merge results from the search engines at…

Explains portals as tools that gather a variety of electronic information resources, including local library resources, into a single Web page. Highlights include cross-database searching; integration with university portals and course management software; the ARL (Association of Research Libraries) Scholars Portal Initiative; and selected vendors…

Discussion of information literacy and education focuses on a module developed to provide instruction related to Web searching. Highlights include basic Web search strategies; Web search tools, including directories, search engines, specialized search tools, and the use of pathfinder pages; and suggested practice activities. (Author/LRW)

Discusses how to improve the quality of Internet search systems and introduces the Ghosts Consensus Method which is free from the drawbacks of digital democracy algorithms and is based on linear programming tasks. Highlights include vector space models; determining relevant documents; and enriching query terms. (LRW)

Discusses the use of contextual information for identifying and understanding users' information needs and presents an approach that has potential for studying Web users' search contexts by automatically grouping a user's consecutive search activities on the same search topic into one session, based in part on statistical data from Web search…

Reviews three database systems available for searching generic chemical structure representations: (1) Derwent's Chemical Code System; (2) IDC's Gremas System; and (3) Derwent's Markush DARC System. Various types of searches are described, features desirable to users are discussed, and comparison searches are described that measured recall and…

Suggests ways to increase precision when searching full text files on BRS, Mead Data Central and DIALOG. All of the techniques are based on achieving repetition of central concepts as expressed in natural language. Schematic representations of strategies and sample searches on each of the three systems are provided. (10 references) (CLB)

Describes the use of DIALOGLINK, a searching software for online systems that can be used with microcomputers. Topics discussed include buffer size; multiple copies; screen speedup; print spooler; startup shortcuts; accounting files; type-ahead buffers; and logon macros for use with other online services. (12 references) (LRW)

Presents suggestions from online searchers for using online services. Topics discussed include decreasing costs by using less expensive files; modifying searches on Dialog; use of controlled vocabularies and free text; using a variety of databases; the importance of search intermediaries understanding the topic; and patent searching. (LRW)

Describes specific techniques for using the MAP command for business searches on DIALOG that use more than one file. Limits of the MAPping function are discussed, and modification of these techniques for application to other databases and systems is explained. (Four references) (LRW)

Proposes an information retrieval model in which documents are characterized by a simple probability measure on the set of index terms, and describes two retrieval strategies, one based on utility theory and the other on information theory. The discussion covers experimental findings of retrieval effectiveness and insights into fundamental…

Describes a study that collected statistics on the occurrence of terms used in searching an online catalog and investigated the correlation of the selection of terms with their occurrence in indexing. The discussion of the results includes implications for indexing theories. (19 references) (CLB)

Examines range of coverage and principles of inclusion of dissertations in PsycINFO by comparing searches done on PsycINFO and Dissertation Abstracts Online. Searchers are advised to be skeptical about the accuracy and completeness of vendor documentation and the practical journal literature. Search strategies used are appended. (eight references)…