bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Online bibliographic searching and the deprofessionalization of librarianship
Authors: Nielsen Brian
Published: January 2008

The interaction of technological change and a professionalization movement is considered within the context of librarianship and online. In sharp contrast to the theories of Daniel Bell predicting a professionalized post‐industrial society, a number of sociologists suggest a future deprofessionalized society in which many professions lose status, deferential prestige, or other traits commonly associated with established professions. Among these sociologists, Nina Toren has hypothesized that technological advance, notably computerization, may lead to the deprofessionalization of an occupation because the occupation can no longer hold a controlling monopoly over its hitherto esoteric knowledge base. The technology of online bibliographic searching is examined in the light of the Toren theory, and it is argued that in some respects the technology can be seen to threaten deprofessionalization of librarianship. Such a view is in sharp contrast to the more common perception in the library/information science community that online is a professionalizing force for librarianship. Drawing upon interview data, as well as previously published data from two national surveys, it is shown that the status‐enhancing view of online has some credence. Trends in the development of the technology, however, suggest that such status‐enhancement for librarianship may be short lived. A conflict view of occupations and technology is suggested to clarify the forces at work with librarianship.
Development and operation of a database machine for online access and update of a large database
Authors: Rush James E.
Published: January 2008

This paper describes the development of a fault‐tolerant database processor (DBP) system to replace OCLC's conventional file system, which not only improves overall system reliability and database availability, but also facilitates the operation and management of a large and rapidly growing online database. This database processor became operational on 16 October 1978, an achievement that represents a significant advance in the operation of information storage and retrieval systems.
Influence of unlimited ranking on practical online search strategy
Authors: Stibic V.
Published: January 2008

Ranking of retrieved documents in the descending order of their association with the inquiry has been known in theory for a very long time, but so far it has found only limited use in operational online systems, Because of the ranking, the documents that are probably relevant are concentrated at the top of the set of documents retrieved and submitted for display. This affects the practical strategy of online retrieval that differs essentially from the search strategy in the traditional Boolean‐oriented systems: the inquirer does not need to reformulate his inquiry if it yields too many documents nor to be too anxious at the selection of inquiry terms. Consequently, types of inquiry can be used that are inadmissible in Boolean‐oriented systems or in systems that rank only a limited number of documents.
A simulation model of the ELHILL 3 system of the National Library of Medicine
Authors: Hillman Donald J.
Published: January 2008

The ELHILL 3 system of the National Library of Medicine is one of the world's largest online information retrieval systems, providing access to many different files via MEDLINE, TOXLINE, CATLINE, SDILINE, CHEMLINE, AVLINE, etc. In order to determine whether cost reductions are possible for systems of online bibliographic retrieval, stochastic models were developed that are capable of projecting the operational and cost performance of different configurations handling the same known workload as ELHILL 3. The existing configuration (multiprocessor system consisting of two tightly‐coupled IBM 370/158s) was first modeled, establishing a baseline for performance comparison. A systems approach was followed in building the model. This involved decomposition of the ELHILL 3 system into quantifiable components, analysis of the components, integration of the components into a network model, and performance measurement via discrete event procedures. The model is a network of processing activities, decision points, queues, and services, and the passage of individual user transactions through the retrieval system is simulated. Alternative configurations are modeled (e.g. distributed processing systems) for ELHILL 3, and tested for cost and performance projections.
REFLES: An individual microcomputer system for fact retrieval
Authors: Bivins Kathleen T. , Palmer Roger C.
Published: January 2008

The paper describes the development and system design of REFLES, a microcomputer‐based system for in‐house data files, in both its prototype and next‐stage versions. Specifics of hardware selection and configuration are outlined, as are details of file and record structures. Program functions are discussed, and samples are presented. The REFLES prototype is described in its test form, followed by presentation of the working environment, problems, and evaluation of the current version. Finally, the future of REFLES, or a REFLES‐like system, is outlined, both in respect to actual and proposed versions, as well as from a speculative viewpoint.
Information technology and its socioeconomic and academic impact
Authors: Doll Russell
Published: January 2008

Technological and social planning often has unanticipated outcomes. The planned function of information technology is primarily information and storage. The latent function might be (1) an increase in Power for those able to make best use of this technology; (2) an acceleration of historic change in which multinational corporations may supplant nation‐states. The paper also speculates on unplanned changes in (1) the direction research takes; (2) library training; (3) accessibility of source materials; (4) the formation of library élites.
Fourth International Online Information Meeting
Authors: OPPENHEIM CHARLES
Published: January 2008

The Fourth International Online Conference followed the usual pattern of success established by its three predecessors. With over 900 delegates from 25 countries, it fully justifies its title as an International Conference. There was a rather higher proportion of continental delegates and a rather lower proportion of British ones than in previous years. This was no doubt due to the recession affecting the U.K. and to rumours that there will not be an Online Meeting in Germany in 1981. The conference followed its by now well established pattern. A plenary opening session with ‘big name’ speakers. Thereafter, a bewildering choice of either full papers, product reviews or the exhibition, with the odd poster session thrown in. Last year there were a large number of poster sessions, and they were extremely well attended, with lots of discussions taking place. This year, however, there were fewer of them, they were less well organised, being strung out along the edges of the Queen Mary Suite foyer and with very poor lighting. There was no exhibition in the foyer (unlike last year), so people were not browsing in the vicinity anyway. The quality of some of the poster displays left a lot to be desired. I got the feeling that an author is awarded a poster display if the paper is regarded as not being good enough to be a presented paper. The authors — or some of the authors, I should say — seemed to feel it wasn't worth the effort of going to a lot of trouble to do a good display having been awarded a consolation prize only. The organisers of the conference should think carefully about the role and purpose of poster sessions in future International Online Conferences.
Online user forum
Authors: Lawrence Gerri G.
Published: January 2008

More new user groups! Linda Phillips reports that the Rochester Online Users group boasts of 60 members. While the group is presently oriented in the science‐technology area the members interested in the humanities, business, and social science subjects are growing. The group publishes a Directory: Rochester Online Users group and can be contacted through Linda at 716–546–2700, ext. 2220.
Starting online information services in Portugal
Authors: Lopes da Silva Gabriela , Pulido Carlos
Published: January 2008

The first two years' operation of CDCT online information services are described. Promotional and other activities are included and an outlook is presented emphasizing the need for a good user's education.
The impact of online services on subscriptions to printed publications
Authors: Lancaster F.W. , Goldhor Herbert
Published: January 2008

A survey was conducted among academic and special libraries to determine the extent to which these libraries have discontinued subscriptions to printed abstracting and indexing services as a result of the accessibility of equivalent databases online. Significant levels of cancellation were reported by libraries of all types. However, decisions to discontinue were only partly influenced by online access in some libraries and not at all influenced by online access in some others. It appears that online access has so far had only a relatively small effect on cancellation decisions. Some barriers to a more widespread migration to online access are identified. A noteworthy finding is that new libraries tend to move directly into electronic access on demand without ever going through the print on paper phase. A great accelerated level of migration is predicted for the next five to ten years.
An investigation of recall in the ABI/INFORM database when selecting by journal
Authors: Keck Bruce L.
Published: January 2008

Recall was investigated in the ABI/INFORM database in the four key Fields through which the same journal might be selected: Journal Code (JC), Journal Title (JN), CODEN (CO), and ISSN (SN). Considering thirteen journal titles, recoveries are given for each of the key fields and ranked in descending order of recall JC, JN(EXPAND), SN, CO, JN. Some non‐recoveries are investigated and reasons are given. Variant spelling is the most commonly encountered error in the JN Field. Missing information is the most common cause of non‐recovery in the JC, CO and SN fields.
Automatic Identification of duplicates after multidatabase online searching
Authors: Onorato E.S. , Bianchi G.
Published: January 2008

Multidatabase queries have become a must in online searching; the consequent occurrence of duplicates due to file overlaps has become a permanent handicap of online searching. The present paper shows that automatic identification of duplicates (followed by an optional elimination) could be achieved by a host computer as a complementary service to online retrieval. The service could be linked to an editing feature. A description of the steps necessary to the realization of the service is given.
Online user forum
Authors: Lawrence Gerri G.
Published: January 2008

Online User Groups in the United States are busier than ever, holding seminars and conducting workshops. Houston Online User Group held a meeting recently with speakers from the Telecommunications Systems; the law library of Conoco Oil Company and the Public Affairs Division of Shell Oil Company. January saw the election of new officers and committee members and began another exciting year for HOLUG.
Installation and operational experiences with MACCS (Molecular Access System)
Authors: Polton D.J.
Published: January 2008

Computerised chemical substructure searching began at Shell Research Sitting‐bourne during the 1960s with a file of chemical structures coded in string form using the IUPAC (Dyson) chemical notation. Work on the coding of structures in this notation had begun about 1961 when the definitive rules were first published, and whilst the file was being created it was also being searched for compounds containing similar chemical fragments by using once‐off programs. In order to evolve into a fully fledged computer system, certain drawbacks in the notation had to be overcome and, based on a modified notation, a series of programs had been written by 1966 to enable registration, substructure searching, molecular formula checking and other activities to be carried out. After many years of use, it was decided that a move towards an interactive graphics system should be made, and several ideas were followed up. When, during these deliberations, Molecular Design Limited (MDL) announced their product MOLEX this was examined and assessed to be a suitable replacement for the old system provided that the structures and data already stored could be satisfactorily transferred. Molex, which is now known as MACCS (Molecular ACCess System), was subsequently purchased and has now been in use at Sittingbourne Research Centre for a year and a half.
Online document ordering systems of online vendors
Authors: Roth Gisela I.
Published: January 2008

The commands and features of four selected online document ordering systems are compared, and potentially useful features lacking in these systems are suggested. Three advantages of such systems are examined: referral to efficient document suppliers, convenience, and speed. Despite this, a telephone survey of German users shows very low usage, and reasons for this are suggested — primarily cost, and the ability to supply requests from in‐house or local sources. For very urgent orders cost is a minor factor but for normal ones it is the most important. The users surveyed also comment on the features available in current ordering systems.
Information science research, the National Library of Medicine and the public/private sectors
Authors: Williams Martha E.
Published: January 2008

Two trends, the decline in funding for information science research and the accelerating contention between the public and private sectors in the information field, pose a threat to government institutions that conduct and support information science research. The appropriateness of the activities of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in particular has been questioned by the private sector. NLM, which has heretofore been a leader in information science research and development and in serving the health professional community (as mandated by law) is threatened. Private sector opponents should bear in mind that the contributions made by the Government both directly through contracts and indirectly through education and spinoff from research efforts have paved the way and laid the groundwork for the online information industry. Continued growth of the industry will require continued research.
Measures that discriminate among online searchers with different training and experience
Authors: Howard Helen
Published: January 2008

The major research objectives were to identify the differences among the searchers of users of online bibliographic systems who have different backgrounds of training and experience, and the differences among the searches of persons with and without experience of the Eric database. A quasi‐experimental research design used forty‐two searchers separated into five experience levels who conducted two pre‐selected searches using the Dialog system and the Eric database. The results were measured with variables which related to the search outcome, i.e., cost effectiveness, precision, and recall and to the search process and errors.
Distribution of citations in databases in a multidisciplinary field
Authors: Tenopir Carol
Published: January 2008

Word‐oriented databases of potential relevance to the multidisciplinary field of emergency management were identified by the University of Illinois, Information Retrieval Research Laboratory under contract to the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This article is an extension and outgrowth of that contract. It analyzes forty databases for relevance to emergency management by searching each database using an emergency management subject profile, printing a random sample of citations to determine percent of false drops, and ranking the databases according to number of relevant citations. Bradford's law of scatter is shown to apply to this multidisciplinary field, using databases instead of journals and citations instead of articles. No one database provides more than 19% of the literature, however, illustrating that the literature in the field is widely scattered throughout databases. These findings can help in the choice of the specific databases containing emergency management citations and in the determination of how many databases need to be searched in order to retrieve a given percentage of the literature. A companion article in this issue of Online Review — ‘Evaluation of database coverage: a comparison of two methodologies,’ explains the subject profile evaluation method employed in this project and compares it to another coverage evaluation technique.
Evaluation of database coverage: A comparison of two methodologies
Authors: Tenopir Carol
Published: January 2008

The University of Illnois Information Retrieval Research Laboratory contracted with the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to identify and analyze word‐oriented databases of potential relevance to FEMA. A subject profile technique was used to measure how many potentially relevant citations were found in selected databases, thus allowing a ranking and comparison of databases for the multidisciplinary field of emergency management. “Distribution of Citations in Databases in a Multidisciplinary Field” describes the ranking of databases relevant to emergency management and demonstrates the applicability of Bradford's law of scatter to citations in databases. This article describes an experiment to compare the subject profile technique used in the FEMA project to another common database coverage evaluation technique — the ‘bibliography’ or ‘review article’ technique. Although the two techniques have slightly different purposes, they can both be used to compare the coverage of databases in a particular subject area. This study shows the subject profile technique to be less costly and less time consuming.
A Swedish evaluation study of the ISI/Biomed information system
Authors: Alton Lundberg Viveka , Ahlenius Tor
Published: January 2008

ISI/Biomed is a new bibliographic database, which forms a subset of SciSearch and contains about 800,000 references to articles, meeting abstracts, letters, editorials, review papers, etc. from approximately 1400 major international biomedical journals. The database, updated monthly, includes material from 1979 to the present, and is produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in Philadelphia, USA. Since Oct 1981, it has been available, within the framework of the ISI Network, on a DEC‐computer at Information Consultants Inc., Washington DC for dial‐up (Telenet/Tymnet 300, 1200 bps) online searching, using a version of the Swedish IR software 3RIP.
Comparison study of overlap among 21 scientific databases in searching pesticide information
Authors: Meyer Daniel E. , Mehlman David W. , Reeves Ellen S. , Origoni Regina B. , Evans Delores , Sellers Douglas W.
Published: January 2008

The online search activities described here were conducted to provide environmental scientists with literature to use in their review of pesticide chemicals for regulatory decisions. The first criterion for this data gathering process was to have complete coverage to approach 100% recall of the papers published on the pesticide in question. As new databases were developed and current ones were updated, the number of searchable files multiplied. Running large profiles against each data‐base now resulted in, increased online costs, (connect‐time/print charges), greater overlap and duplication and, inundating the reviewer with thousands of citations. Thus it became apparent that the effectiveness of searching this multitude of applicable databases must be evaluated. Where is the overlap? Which data‐bases contain unique citations? How can the number of databases be decreased without minimizing the percentage of coverage?
The microcomputer as a training aid for online searching
Authors: Large J.A. , Armstrong C.J.
Published: January 2008

A training package has been developed at the College of Librarianship Wales for online searchers. It operates on a microcomputer and comprises a series of CAL questionnaires and a Dialog emulation. The advantages and disadvantages of such packages for teaching are discussed.
Private files — a comparative review of services offered by online vendors
Authors: White Martin S.
Published: January 2008

Several online host services in both the USA and Europe offer companies the opportunity of being able to load and access private files of information. The benefits associated with private file services are outlined, and some of the factors which need to be considered when contemplating the use of such a service are discussed, including file design, charges and security. The use of videotex for private files is also discussed.
Medline via the IBM 3279
Authors: El‐Hoshy Ahmed H.
Published: January 2008

A new in‐house access to Medline at NLM via the IBM 3270 family of hardware is described. Accompanying performance features of speed, screen oriented dialog and diacritic support for Western European languages are discussed.
Evaluation of Biomed and ISTPB, two new literature databases from the Institute of Scientific Information
Authors: Bradshaw Janice
Published: January 2008

Two new databases from the Institute of Scientific Information — Biomed and ISTPB — were compared with a number of databases, selected from Medline, Biosis and CAB Abstracts, to determine the usefulness of the two new databases as retrospective search tools. The result of the comparison showed that Biomed could be very useful if directly relevant research front(s) exist for the search query, but for total recall, keywords must also be used. ISTPB could provide additional information that is unavailable in the other databases.
Study of strategies used in online searching: 3. Query refining
Authors: Schroder J.J.
Published: January 2008

Twelve different ways for reduction of a large set by removal of irrelevant or unwanted elements are reviewed. Methods discussed include logic revision, concept revision and terminology revision. Examples are given for each option.
Online searching and the print product: impact or interaction?
Authors: Sperr Inez L.
Published: January 2008

A survey of abstracting and indexing services was conducted to determine the extent to which they have detected an impact of online availability on the subscriptions to their printed publications. The picture that emerged showed that various types of printed publications were affected differently, that there has been 2–5% annual attrition in subscriptions to printed publications over the past five years but it is not related solely nor primarily to the availability of online databases, and, that the evolution of online databases and printed publications as separate and distinct entities is accelerating.
Future of secondary services
Authors: Lynne Neufeld M.
Published: January 2008

The secondary services have long been recognized as a vital link in the information transfer chain [Figure 1] that serves to diffuse knowledge from the scholar/ researcher to an increasingly broad and heterogenous group of users. The impact of the ‘information explosion’ at the front end of the chain has dominated discussions on the future of secondary services over the past twenty years, but more recently attention has been focused at the other end of the information transfer chain as new forces for change emerged.
Study of strategies used in online searching: 4. Acronyms — the missing element in your search?
Authors: Schröder J.J.
Published: January 2008

When a term can be represented by an acronym, searches using both controlled terms and free text terms do not always retrieve all relevant items. It is necessary to add the acronym to the search strategy to ensure full coverage. Considerable differences exist between databases and searchers should evaluate the percentage of extra items that this technique will retrieve in the databases that they habitually use.
The literature of online information retrieval: an update
Authors: Hawkins Donald T.
Published: January 2008

A bibliometric study of the online retrieval literature, published in 1978, has been updated. The data are based on a recent bibliography containing 3337 references. The literature continued to grow, reaching a peak annual output of 504 papers in 1981. A plateau, predicted in 1978, was not observed. The conference literature, dispersed at the time of the 1978 bibliometric study, has become centralized in four major proceedings: the annual meetings sponsored by Online, Inc., two conferences sponsored by Learned Information, and the annual meeting of the American Society for Information Science. Online retrieval papers have appeared in 479 journals, 47 of which have published five or more papers on the subject. The distribution of papers follows Bradford's Law if conference publications and journals are considered in the total corpus. Thirty‐one authors have contributed ten or more papers.
Online Information Retrieval Bibliography Seventh Update Part I
Authors: Hawkins Donald T.
Published: January 2008

This is the seventh annual update of the bibliography that was published as a supplement to the first issue of Online Review. It is also the first update to the recently published concatenated bibliography containing the original issue plus the first six updates. This update covers the approximate time period late 1982 through early 1984. It contains 931 references.
Comparison of online agricultural information services
Authors: Reneau Fred , Patterson Richard
Published: January 2008

Online agricultural information services offer agriculturalists the opportunity to access information related to the planning, management, and operation of agricultural enterprises. Online agricultural information services are outlined, agricultural related services rendered by online networks are discussed, service comparisons are presented, and benefits of agricultural online services are also discussed.
Mead Data Central: positioned for the future
Authors: Simpson Jack W.
Published: January 2008

From a modest start‐up in Ohio only fifteen years ago, with the initial LEXIS legal research service, Mead Data Central (MDC) has grown and evolved into multiple services using a massive databank of legal, business and general news and information that continues to grow every day. The company is now a major player in the rapidly developing electronic publishing industry, with offices in thirty cities, 1300 employees and international partners in Britain and France. It's customer list has grown at a compound annual rate of 55% during the last few years, and over 250,000 users have been trained.
PSI: a portable self‐contained intermediary for access to bibliographic database systems
Authors: Shepherd Michael A. , Waiters Carolyn
Published: January 2008

A portable self‐contained intermediary which provides the non‐expert user a single command language for access to multiple bibliographic database systems is under development at the Technical University of Nova Scotia. The intermediary, currently resident on a microcomputer, is intended to be self‐contained on a specially designed single board computer which fits conveniently under a desktop telephone. The system requires no external media such as disk or tape. The command language consists of a set of menus from which the user selects the various functions available. The video screen is formatted into windows of information which allows the user to view citations in one window while keeping a history of the search strategy in a second window.
How videotaped online searches can supplement the teaching of online search strategy
Authors: Haskell Gardner
Published: January 2008

Most instruction of online users incorporates a ‘live’ database search. The disadvantages of this live method are examined and the solution is the use of pre‐recorded videocassette database searches as produced by the University of California Berkeley's School of Library and Information Studies.
The CIS database: occupational health and safety information online
Authors: Siegel Herbert , Scurr Erica
Published: January 2008

Information relevant to the field of occupational medicine can be found in many disciplines. Occupational physicians and nurses may need to be aware of recent chemical and toxicological information, developments in industrial hygiene and safety engineering, ergonomics studies and new legal and regulatory measures being taken to protect the health of workers around the world. There are many different databases which can be searched in these many and diverse fields.
Moves in online searching
Authors: Fidel Raya
Published: January 2008

Moves, or changes in query formulation, are made to resolve three problem situations: (1) when retrieved sets are too large; (2) when they are too small; or (3) when retrieved sets are off‐target. Observation and analysis of about ninety searches resulted in a list of eighteen operational moves, or modifications of query formulation, that keep the meaning of query components unchanged, and twelve conceptual moves which change the meaning of query components. All these moves are explained and then related to search tactics and strategies.
Staffing trends among US online database producers — longitudinal change and growth — 1982–1984
Authors: Lowry Glenn R.
Published: January 2008

This paper reports results of a two‐phase study of the size and composition of US online database production organizations. All US online database producers were surveyed, in 1982 and 1984, in order to determine the number of personnel employed in the intellectual production of their databases. Comparison of the data for the two periods permitted the identification of employment trends which form the focus of discussion.
Company profile — Information Access Company
Authors: Tarter Blodwen
Published: January 2008

Information Access Company was formed in 1976 and, at that time identified more than 400 publications as sources for information covering many general interest subjects. To provide a timely and continuously‐updated reference aid which would make the contents of these publications accessible shortly after each issue was published, IAC created Magazine Index as an online database and made it accessible by computer via Dialog Information Services. The initial index data‐base contained approximately 360 publications, and additional titles and retrospective material have been added until today more than 400 magazines with coverage back twenty years are contained in Magazine Index. This database quickly became and continues to be one of the most widely‐used files among the more than 200 offered on Dialog.
Interfaces and expert systems for online retrieval
Authors: Kehoe Cynthia A.
Published: January 2008

This paper reviews the history of separate online system interfaces, leading to efforts to develop expert systems for searching databases, particularly for end users, and introduces the research in such expert systems. Appended is a bibliography of sources on interfaces and expert systems for online retrieval.
The Ninth International Online Information Meeting
Authors: Collier Harry
Published: January 2008

Annual fairs have a long tradition; in medieval times, they created the one time each year when everyone saw everyone else, when the ‘invisible college’ of traders and purchasers met together for a few days, when one caught up with all the news, when rumours were verified and new rumours were recreated. Established traders, charlatans, those trying to break in and those weighing up the scene all congregated at some traditional spot for the same few days — and often complained about prices, transport and lack of facilities.
Employment interview information available online
Authors: Belanger Sandra E. , Emmick Nancy J. , Crowe Edith
Published: January 2008

Between submission of a resume and actual employment lies the job interview. What the applicant knows about the company may produce a successful interview and result in employment. Researching a company prior to the interview provides the confidence to ask pertinent questions and to relate job skills to company needs. Skilled interviewers can detect familiarity with their operation and are favorably impressed.
Word Finder: an automated thesaurus
Authors: Morgan Lynn
Published: January 2008

This reviewer found Word Finder a pleasure to use, simple to install and run, and well documented. The package worked well with WordStar word‐processor software. Anyone who does their writing at a keyboard, and who often refers to a thesaurus, should find this package worth considering.
Chemical substructure searching: comparing three commercially available databases
Authors: Ben Wagner A.
Published: January 2008

Three commercially available chemical substructure databases are reviewed: Chemical Abstracts, Index Chemicus, and the SANSS file (Chemical Information System). Coverage and overlap of Chemical Abstracts and Index Chemicus are studied, as well as differences between Chemical Abstracts as mounted by two different vendors (STN International and Questel). Guidelines for determining the database/system of choice are given.
Access: A powerful communications package
Authors: Hedges Douglas
Published: January 2008

Access is an unusually well planned and executed communications package that has virtually all the features anyone could want, now and for the foreseeable future. It is easily as powerful as any other communications package on the market today, and it has enough special features to satisfy a diverse group of users.
Online throughout the product/technology life cycle
Authors: Frey Lou Ann , Lee Ann
Published: January 2008

Products have a distinct life cycle, beginning with conception of new technology and ending with the decline and eventual discontinuation of a product as new products replace it. Throughout the entire life cycle of a product, online databases can provide important information to support the activities during each stage. While a technology which may result in a new product is being developed, a multitude of scientific and technical data‐bases are invaluable for research and development activities. When the technology is applied to a new product, engineers can access patents, technical and chemical research, and industry news online to assist in product and manufacturing process development; concurrently, marketing personnel can investigate the marketability of the new product using a variety of business, industry and trade information available online. Once the product has been determined to be marketable, business and product/industry databases can provide essential information related to distribution channels, pricing, promotional schemes, advertising campaigns and test marketing. As a product grows and matures, a marketer can use directory, general business, product/industry, and advertising industry databases to increase or retain market share for his product and to monitor the competition.
A comparison of keyword subject searching on six British university Opacs
Authors: Aanonson John
Published: January 2008

The Library catalogues of many British universities are now accessible through the Joint Academic Network (Janet) which was established in 1984. The availability of online public access catalogues (Opacs) through Janet could be useful to students and academics for several purposes: compiling booklists, inter‐library loans and checking the books held at a neighbouring library prior to making a visit.
Utility programming with Rexx
Authors: Rutherford John
Published: January 2008

Librarians and information specialists are commonly faced with problems related to the transfer and exchange of data. As intermediaries between information producers and end‐users, we are often called on to collect and package data in a meaningful and presentable fashion. Common tasks involve filtering data to remove a carriage return or line feed character, or reformatting text to produce more readable end products. Tasks of this type often require short utility programs, most often written in Basic. This article presents an overview of the Rexx language and a sample utility program to illustrate the advantages of the Rexx language as an alternative to Basic.
4‐1‐1: For locating documents on hard disk
Authors: Hentz Margaret
Published: January 2008

The 4‐1‐1 software package provides directory assistance by helping users to find specific documents stored on a hard disk. The package indexes and files documents, protects confidential information, and copies selected documents for archival purposes. Users who work with many word‐processing documents will find 4‐1‐1 a great aid. It is an easy‐to‐use package that provides all the directory assistance needed to access documents stored on a hard disk.
Online databases as sources of linguistic information
Authors: Sano Hikomaro
Published: January 2008

This report discusses the various types of linguistic information readily obtainable from online databases which are generally used for acquisition of technical information. There are illustrated examples of equivalent words, sample sentences and statistical linguistic data. The implications of online databases as substitutes for dictionaries, and as corpora for linguistic survey are discussed. Online databases include a vast amount of linguistic information, which is unabridged and continually updated, providing useful criteria for selection of words and expressions, and quantitative data for linguistic study.
Textbank: Text searching and retrieval
Authors: Lundeen Gerald
Published: January 2008

Textbank is a full‐text retrieval package that makes use of the structure inherent in most text files. It offers powerful, rapid searching capabilities and is very easy to use. Results of searches can be sorted, stored, printed, temporarily hidden or permanently deleted. Existing machine‐readable text can be converted into a Textbank database by letting the package do automatic indexing. Organisations that have large procedure manuals, litigation support files and other text collections will find Textbank an excellent vehicle for providing access to their information.
Telematics in France: Panorama and prospects
Authors: Marchand Marie
Published: January 2008

In 1972, the first laboratory prototypes were shown to the public, with a further fifteen years passing before the appearance of tangible economic results. French telematics, which may be considered as probably the world's most highly developed union of telecommunication and computer technology, has therefore had to undergo the usual long testing process by which a technical innovation is transformed into an economically feasible product.
Exchange: Automatic file transfers
Authors: Perry Jim
Published: January 2008

XChange is a communications package specifically designed to provide automatic transfers of files from remote computers. Passwords, IDs and encryption are provided to keep the file contents secure.
Bib/Search: for text and structured databases
Authors: Perez Ernest
Published: January 2008

Bib/Search combines a full‐text database, a translator for downloaded files, and an output format translator. The package produces formal bibliographic listings in a variety of standard formats. A concise translation language allows users to define custom output formats and command files. The package includes about a dozen predefined translation files for popular online databases. Bib/Search runs on IBM PC/XT/AT, PS‐2, and compatible computers. The package sells for $385.00, and is available from Bib/Search. PO Box 20503, New York, NY 10009, USA. Tel: (212)477487.
The European Online Information Survey 1988
Authors: Armstrong C.J.
Published: January 2008

By the end of 1992 the countries of Europe will work as one market; this means that whatever barriers to trading exist now — legal, fiscal, linguistic or economic — should then be removed. By 1992 too, the European Commission DG X111 will establish a European internal information services market. The effects of this unification are not easily perceived, perhaps chiefly because it is difficult to view the current European information industry as a whole, spread as it is between large numbers of information vendors and information providers in a range of countries. The same databases are available from different vendors and comparison is made difficult by the various pricing structures and the variety of access routes, software facilities and contractual limitations which different hosts affect.
Applications of AI technology in Online database services
Authors: Gross Daniel
Published: January 2008

The 1990s are shaping up to be the decade of interactive information services. The French Minitel videotex system, now five years old is internationally recognised as a resounding success, with four million terminals in place and access to thousands of information providers.
TERMDOK — multilingual technical dictionary
Authors: Raitt David
Published: January 2008

TERMDOK is a multilingual technical dictionary on CD‐ROM created by the Swedish Centre for Technical Terminology (TNC), published by Walters Lexicon (a newly established family company within the electronic publishing field which concentrates on dictionaries), and produced by Archetype Systems Ltd using the Dataware 2000 CD‐ROM retrieval software. TNC is a non‐profit organisation, supported by the Swedish government, engaged in the standardisation of technical terminology and the terms found in the multilingual dictionaries TNC publishes are included after careful investigation and co‐operation with the relevant bodies in the subject fields. ATNC glossary is comparable with a national standard as regards authority, consensus and quality. Termdok contains over 25,000 single and multiword terms taken from some twenty‐six different glossaries published by TNC. Corresponding terms and synonyms to the Swedish main entries are given, where available, in English, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Russian and Spanish. There are over 100,000 such equivalent terms. Table 1 gives an overview of the subject of each glossary, the number of Swedish entries, and the availability of translated equivalents.
Analysis of the acceptance behaviour of medical librarians and their patrons with regards to Medline on CD‐ROM
Authors: Eger A.J.
Published: January 2008

Two questionnaires were developed in order to gain some insight into medical librarians' attitude towards the various forms in which the Medline database is offered — printed version, online database and CD‐ROM. One was sent to about 200 medical libraries in The Netherlands and the other was distributed among the users of the Core Medline/Ebsco CD‐ROM disc in The Netherlands. Responses to the first questionnaire produced answers about the altitude among Dutch librarians towards this new technology and the current rate of acceptance. Responses to the second questionnaire produced insight on the user audience, as far as current use of printed bibliographies and online services is concerned as well as the users altitude towards Medline on CD‐ROM and the preferred time span and journal selection for the CD‐ROM version of Medline.
McGraw Hill CD‐ROM Science and Technical Reference Set
Authors: Raitt David
Published: January 2008

The McGraw‐Hill CD‐ROM Science and Technical Reference Set contains, on a single disk, the 1984 editions of the McGraw‐Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology and the McGraw‐Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. The Encyclopedia contains 7,300 articles on all aspects of science and technology written to provide short, but comprehensive coverage of each topic. The Dictionary, in its 3rd edition, contains some 98,500 terms and 115,000 definitions. The combined 4,000 pages of these two important, first‐stop reference works together with their illustrations are contained on one CD‐ROM searchable under Reference Technology's Full Text Manager software. The user can enter single or multiple terms, authors or titles to retrieve information. Articles, selected from a summary list, may be read, printed or downloaded to disk. While in the Encyclopedia, special dictionary functions let users view term definitions through window overlays.
Readability of documentation for end user searchers
Authors: Shaw Debora
Published: January 2008

Measures of readability, which assess the expected difficulty in reading a specific text, provide one means of assessing the quality of documentation for computer‐based systems. In this study documentation designed for physicians searching the PDQ cancer database was analyzed using readability formulae in AT&T's Writer's Workbench software package. The user manuals' reading grades ranged from tenth to thirteenth grade levels. This should be appropriate under normal circumstances for sophisticated searchers such as physicians. However, the distractions that are common in many online environments can decrease reader comprehension at any level.
Quality of indexing in library and information science databases
Authors: Chu Clara M. , Ajiferuke Isola
Published: January 2008

The study compares the quality of indexing in library and information science databases (Library Literature (LL), Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), and Information Science Abstracts (ISA)). An alternative method to traditional retrieval effectiveness tests, suggested by White and Griffith in their paper ‘Quality of indexing in online databases’ [13], is adopted to measure the quality of the controlled vocabulary of each database. The method involves identifying clusters of documents that are similar in content, searching for each document from a given cluster in a database, identifying the terms used by the databases to index each document, and calculating certain measures to determine the quality of indexing. Problems found with the White and Griffith discrimination index led the authors to propose an alternative discrimination index which takes into consideration the collection size of a database. Our analysis shows that LISA has the best quality of indexing out of the three databases.
LISA on CD‐ROM: an evaluation
Authors: Hartley R.J.
Published: January 2008

This review refers to LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts) on CD‐ROM which is available from SilverPlatter Information Ltd. The version of the software used was numbered 1.4 and dated April 1988. The database covered the time period 1969 to March 1988. The system used for the test was an Opus PC II with a Hitachi 1503S CD‐ROM drive. This opus is an IBM PC‐XT compatible which had 1 Mb of RAM and a 20 Mb hard disk. The operating system was MS‐DOS version 3.2 with the MS‐DOS CD‐ROM extensions.
Current state of full text primary information online with recommendations for the future
Authors: Hearty John A. , Rohrbaugh Valerie K.
Published: January 2008

During the 1980s, database vendors mounted more full text primary literature online. Users, however, have not adopted these files for use at the same rate. There are several reasons for the slow adoption of full text primary files: one is the lack of full, complete online files, a second is that full text online files compete with many other better‐known sources of information. Full text files are often isolated, and not linked with bibliographic retrieval files. Finally, the files may be positioned to appeal to end users, but end users may not be adopting online searching as eagerly as the information intermediaries have. The future of online full text information will depend on producers developing the technology necessary to mount complete files economically, and the ability of producers and vendors to make this kind of retrieval attractive to users. Enhancements for users may take the form of artificial intelligence interfaces, integrated searching and inclusion of graphics.