Showing papers in "Journal of Documentation in 1967"
TL;DR: The model is derived from S. C. Bradford's ‘law of scattering’ and is called the Bradford Distribution and is used to predict the reference yield of abstracting journals in a search for thermophysical property data.
Abstract: The distribution of references in a collection of pertinent source documents can be described and predicted by the relation where the parameter s is related to the subject field and the completeness of the collection The model is used to predict the reference yield of abstracting journals in a search for thermophysical property data It is used also to explain differences among various literature studies of the past in terms of differences in subject and comprehensiveness of search The model is derived from S C Bradford's ‘law of scattering’ and is called the Bradford Distribution
168 citations
TL;DR: This article found that implicit use orientations can be analysed in terms of their underlying structure and that their study offers the possibility of discovering the conditions under which one person can accurately simulate and use the implicit use orientation of another.
Abstract: The purpose of this project was to identify variables thought to affect relevance judgments and conduct a series of laboratory studies to determine the effects of these variables on relevance judgments. This paper discusses the variable of ‘implicit use orientations’—the particular attitude taken by a subject (judge) about the intended use of a document. One hundred and forty judges rated each of nine abstracts for relevance to several short information requirement statements. The same judges then repeated the ratings, each adopting (assuming) one of fourteen use orientations described to them. It was found that the particular use orientation assumed by the judge has a marked effect on relevance judgments. It was also found that implicit use orientations can be analysed in terms of their underlying structure and that their study offers the possibility of discovering the conditions under which one person can accurately simulate and use the implicit use orientations of another. Relevance judgments have been used as a basis for measures designed to evaluate the effectiveness of information retrieval systems. These judgments have usually been accepted at face value and have not been subjected to critical scrutiny. There is reason to believe, however, that as ordinarily obtained, they may be unreliable and sensitive to a number of conditions of measurement that have not been carefully controlled in previous evaluation studies.
118 citations
TL;DR: The results of the investigation suggest a number of lines of action which the appropriate authorities might follow, and the most important would seem to be the publishing of an international index to translations and the creation within the United Kingdom of a centralized Japanese translation service.
Abstract: The foreign‐language barrier facing British scientists is a function of a, the amount and value of foreign scientific literature produced; b, the linguistic ability of the people wishing to read it; and c, the availability and effectiveness of translation services. To obtain quantitative data on these points the NLL has recently conducted a survey amongst scientists and librarians in the United Kingdom and the present paper presents the more important results. The survey has shown that the language problem is of considerable magnitude and is common to the majority of scientists and technologists. The languages creating the most difficulty are Russian, German, and Japanese. It has also indicated that local translation facilities are not particularly effective and that, as far as national facilities are concerned, British scientists are largely unaware of existing services which might help them to overcome their difficulties. The results of the investigation suggest a number of lines of action which the appropriate authorities might follow. The most important would seem to be the publishing of an international index to translations and the creation within the United Kingdom of a centralized Japanese translation service.
43 citations
TL;DR: The citation characteristics of papers in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (especially for the years 1963-5) have been examined as a means of studying the usage of astronomical literature in the United Kingdom.
Abstract: The citation characteristics of papers in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (especially for the years 1963–5) have been examined as a means of studying the usage of astronomical literature in the United Kingdom. The decrease of usage with age has been investigated and the decay half‐life determined. Particular attention has been paid to the immediacy effect, and to its possible variation in different sub‐fields of astronomy. The citations have also been separated according to journal of origin. As a result of this study, a quantitative estimate has been made of the titles and backruns that are required to satisfy a given percentage of the demand for astronomical research literature in this country.
36 citations
TL;DR: A new estimate is put forward based on the experience of the NLL in attempting to build up a comprehensive collection of the world's scientific and technical periodical literature.
Abstract: Published estimates of the number of scientific and technical periodicals currently being published are analysed. A new estimate is put forward based on the experience of the NLL in attempting to build up a comprehensive collection of the world's scientific and technical periodical literature.
21 citations
TL;DR: A series of tests on the coverage, overlap, and indexing of abstracts journals were described, and the results are reported here.
Abstract: In a previous paper (J. Doc. 20 (4) 1964, 212–35) a series of tests on the coverage, overlap, and indexing of abstracts journals were described. Briefly, these were carried out by selecting recent, comprehensive bibliographies on specific subjects, searching the appropriate abstracts journals via the author indexes to determine the number of references given in the bibliography that were abstracted, then consulting the subject indexes to try to locate those references which are known to have been abstracted. A further eight bibliographies have been studied, and the results are reported here.
21 citations
TL;DR: There were wide variations in the estimates by libraries of the annual output of a hypothetical ‘average’ cataloguer, and little use was made of existing centralized cataloguing services and reasons for this are suggested.
Abstract: A survey was made by questionnaire of cataloguing and classification in fifty‐one university libraries. The returned questionnaires revealed many, differences in the classification systems, cataloguing codes, and filing rules used, as well as in the kind and amount of detail in a catalogue entry. There were wide variations in the estimates by libraries of the annual output of a hypothetical ‘average’ cataloguer. There was little uniformity in the statistical data collected by libraries of the work of their cataloguing departments. Little use was made of existing centralized cataloguing services and reasons for this are suggested. More study of user's catalogue needs is necessary. The problems of standardization must be resolved if mechanized techniques are to be fully exploited.
12 citations
TL;DR: The loans control system used at AWRE is described in detail and plans to integrate and mechanize the cataloguing and ordering operations using an IBM 870 system and an IBM 360/30 computer are also described.
Abstract: The loans control system used at AWRE is described in detail. Punched cards produced in the library are used as input to a computer to provide the necessary control tools: reminders, borrower, and date listings. Details are given of a method of using the computer to perform a sort in UDC number order. Plans to integrate and mechanize the cataloguing and ordering operations using an IBM 870 system and an IBM 360/30 computer are also described.
10 citations
TL;DR: This paper identifies the essential elements necessary for valid and reliable experiments in the testing of retrieval systems and argues that any experimental design must take into account the formulation of adequate procedures regarding the control of all the enumerated variables.
Abstract: Experimentation in information science has suffered from lack of definition and deficiencies in experimental design and control. With the absence of such control it is often difficult to determine what has in fact been tested and under what conditions. The reproducibility of experiments, if desirable, is consequently open to doubt. Inadequate attention has been given to experimental design with even less care devoted to the provision of procedures for the successful execution of experiments. This paper identifies the essential elements necessary for valid and reliable experiments in the testing of retrieval systems. The variables (components and sub‐components) operating within the context of retrieval systems are enumerated, defined, and discussed. Models, experimental design, and methods of controlling variables in actual experimental situations are illustrated. The meaning of ‘control’ in retrieval experiments is discussed. Attention is given to sources of experimental bias which contaminate research findings. Specific points are discussed with reference to experimentation undertaken in the Comparative Systems Laboratory at Western Reserve. Variables and sources of bias are those identified and manipulated in experiments performed on the basis of an IR system model, incorporating components related to purpose: discipline, users, file size; and to functions: acquisition, input source, indexing language, coding, file organization, question analysis, search procedures, and dissemination. Each of these components is analysed separately and numerous variables operating within the components are grouped into those associated with system mechanics, human factors, or human‐system interaction. Since a multiplicity of variables associated with these components operates within any retrieval system it is argued that any experimental design, as a minimum, must take into account the formulation of adequate procedures regarding the control of all the enumerated variables.
7 citations
TL;DR: The results show the large extent to which public reference libraries are used as a source of technical and commercial information by a wide range of users, especially in local industry, commerce, and public services.
Abstract: An account is given of a survey carried out by OSTI in May‐June 1966 on the use made of thirty‐three public reference libraries in England, Scotland, and Wales, covering both personal visitors and telephone, Telex, and postal inquiries. The results include the more important factual information collected and show the large extent to which public reference libraries are used as a source of technical and commercial information by a wide range of users, especially in local industry, commerce, and public services.
6 citations
TL;DR: ‘Meaning’ must be removed from the indexing stage to that of vocabulary construction, and Vocabularies can be reduced to a minimum, first to a core of terms used in a specialist science, and, following Russell, ultimately to undefined terms symbolic of sense experience.
Abstract: Words have no precision, though in information storage and retrieval we are required to act as if they did. We have, therefore, to impose certain arbitrary conditions to reduce the element of personal interpretation. ‘Meaning’ must be removed from the indexing stage to that of vocabulary construction. Vocabularies can be reduced to a minimum, first to a core of terms used in a specialist science, and, following Russell, ultimately to undefined terms symbolic of sense experience. ‘Basic English’ has shown similar minimizing to be feasible for a natural language. The success of Batten cards shows that the principle could be equally applicable to specialist indexing vocabularies.
TL;DR: In addition to social news, some of these contain information about research in progress, research material, and select bibliographies; these are called research newsletters and an analysis is made of the contents and scope of twenty-two of them as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A number of informal biological newsletters have a limited circulation. In addition to social news some of these contain information about research in progress, research material, and select bibliographies—these are called research newsletters and an analysis is made of the contents and scope of twenty‐two of them. The bibliographies are of several types and that compiled from the publications of the recipient's newsletter is discussed and its cover compared with that of Biological Abstracts. Suggestions to improve the usefulness of the research newsletters are made.
TL;DR: The UDC as a language for machine retrieval has been tested and found feasible using a collection of seismological literature and the system developed is flexible and can be adjusted to any desired level of exhaustivity of indexing.
Abstract: The UDC as a language for machine retrieval has been tested and found feasible using a collection of seismological literature. The system developed is flexible and can be adjusted to any desired level of exhaustivity of indexing. A description is given of the technique for handling UDC relationships, recording the input data, and searching the data file using an IBM 1401 computer.
TL;DR: The NLL will soon start a service for social science serials but not books as discussed by the authors, and the reasons for this decision are reviewed in detail in Section 5.2.1.
Abstract: The NLL will soon start a service for social science serials but not books. The reasons for this decision are reviewed.
TL;DR: A practical filing rubric, with explanation of machine filing concepts, is presented here and some observations on the suitability of Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal notations for computer search follow.
Abstract: While there has been discussion of the computer manipulability of classification notations from a theoretical viewpoint, there has been little, if any on practical filing. A practical filing rubric, with explanation of machine filing concepts, is presented here. Some observations on the suitability of Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal notations for computer search follow.
TL;DR: A system is proposed which matches uncondensed and unanalysed texts with search requests and semantically equivalent transformations derived from them and utilizes the results of machine translation and structural linguistics in syntactic analysis and in semantic classification with adaptations to the requirements of a document selection system.
Abstract: Given the demonstrable deficiencies of indexing and indexes as means of document analysis and selection, a system is proposed which matches uncondensed and unanalysed texts with search requests and semantically equivalent transformations derived from them. The method utilizes the results of machine translation and structural linguistics in syntactic analysis and in semantic classification with adaptations to the requirements of a document selection system.
TL;DR: The author views the problem of managing a classification, such as the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC), as an example of the broader class of problems known in the system analysis and data processing field as ‘file management’.
Abstract: The author views the problem of managing a classification, such as the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC), as an example of the broader class of problems known in the system analysis and data processing field as ‘file management’. The characteristics of file management are listed and related specifically to the UDC. The uses of data processing equipment for the creation, maintenance, manipulation, and display of files are discussed. The development of a prototype file management system for the UDC is reviewed.
TL;DR: A comparison is made between systems of several union catalogues and of a single union catalogue in terms of costs and performance, with frequent reference to the British system.
Abstract: A comparison is made between systems of several union catalogues and of a single union catalogue in terms of costs and performance, with frequent reference to the British system. Multiple union catalogue systems are shown to be necessarily slower and more expensive.