Showing papers in "Journal of Documentation in 1978"

Information concepts for information science

Abstract: Information science, or informatics, has almost from its beginnings been characterized by a seemingly inordinate self‐consciousness, exemplified by concern with its status vis‐a‐vis other disciplines, with its status as a science, and with the significance of its objects of investigation and the goals of that investigation. The bibliography by Port, and the survey by Wellisch, of definitions of information science, and the historical survey by Harmon, all give substantial evidence of this self‐consciousness. Some aspects of this attitude are of course due to the social and political problems facing any new discipline (or field of investigation aspiring to such status), such as indifference or hostility from the established academic community, the fight for a share of limited research and development funds, the inferiority complex associated with having no well‐defined methods of investigation in a social situation which requires them for acceptance, and so on. Other aspects of this self‐consciousness may, however, be more related to strictly internal, ‘scientific’ concerns; that is, to problems within the theoretical structure of information science which must be solved in order for substantial progress in solving its practical problems to be made. This review surveys contributions to one such problem: the question of a suitable concept of information for information science.

An evaluation of feedback in document retrieval using co‐occurrence data

Abstract: This paper reports experiments with a term weighting model incorporating relevance information in which it is assumed that index terms are distributed dependently. Initially this model was tested with complete relevance information against a similar model which assumes index terms are distributed independently. The experiments demonstrated conclusively that index terms are not independent for a number of diverse document collections. It was concluded that the use of relevance information together with dependence information could potentially improve retrieval effectiveness. As a result of further experiments the initial strict dependence model was modified and in particular a new relevance‐based term weight was developed. This modified dependence model was then used as the basis for relevance feedback, i.e. with partial relevance information only, and significant increases in retrieval effectiveness were achieved. The evaluation method used in the feedback experiments emphasized the effect of the feedback on documents which the potential user would not previously have seen. Finally the incorporation of relevance feedback in an operational system is considered and in particular it is argued that if high recall searches are required, relevance feedback based on the modified dependence model may be superior to the widely used Boolean search.

Studies on patent citation networks

Abstract: Work is described on patent citation networks, a novel technique for displaying the history of technological subjects and their key turning points. The method accurately identifies the key patents in a subject field, and if a subject docs not have a definite starting point, this is reflected in the patent network. The networks are less satisfactory if the key patent took a long time to appear in print. Subjects studied were: semi‐synthetic penicillins, tobacco substitutes, electrophotography, Ziegler‐Natta catalysis, and hovercraft. Possible uses of the technique are examined.

Ranking in principle

Abstract: It is often suggested that information retrieval systems should rank documents rather than simply retrieving a set. Two separate reasons are adduced for this: that relevance itself is a multi‐valued or continuous variable; and that retrieval is an essentially approximate process. These two reasons lead to different ranking principles, one according to degree of relevance, the other according to probability of relevance. This paper explores the possibility of combining the two principles, but concludes that while neither is adequate alone, nor can any single all‐embracing ranking principle be constructed to replace the two. The only general solution to the problem would be to find an optimal ranking by exploring the effect on the user of every possible ranking. However, some more practical approximate solutions appear possible.

Machine translation and machine‐aided translation

Abstract: The recent report for the Commission of the European Communities on current multilingual activities in the field of scientific and technical information and the 1977 conference on the same theme both included substantial sections on operational and experimental machine translation systems, and in its Plan of action the Commission announced its intention to introduce an operational machine translation system into its departments and to support research projects on machine translation. This revival of interest in machine translation may well have surprised many who have tended in recent years to dismiss it as one of the ‘great failures’ of scientific research. What has changed? What grounds are there now for optimism about machine translation? Or is it still a ‘utopian dream’ ? The aim of this review is to give a general picture of present activities which may help readers to reach their own conclusions. After a sketch of the historical background and general aims (section I), it describes operational and experimental machine translation systems of recent years (section II), it continues with descriptions of interactive (man‐machine) systems and machine‐assisted translation (section III), (and it concludes with a general survey of present problems and future possibilities section IV).

Cluster analysis used on social science journal citations

Abstract: Cluster analysis was used on three files of citations from social science journals to other journals. The files were a pilot study, a file of criminology data and a very large file covering all social sciences. The criminology data was divided into sections drawn from 1950, 1960, and 1970 sources. The large file was in two sections, one drawn from a ranked list of source journals and the other from a list of journals selected at random. The study looked at the effect of several cluster methods and various ways of normalizing the data to find out which observed effects are true properties of the data. The results indicated that clusters of social science journals generated using citations have a non‐hierarchical structure. The criminology samples from 1960 and 1970 showed little change over ten years in the main clusters, but the two sections of the large file gave results which, although similar in general shape, differed substantially in their details. The overall conclusion is that cluster analysis is an unsuitable approach to the design of secondary services in the social sciences, though it may have some value in automatic retrieval systems. Two problems are the vast amounts of data needed and the difficulty of presenting results comprehensibly, particularly with overlapping clusters.

Indices of literature dispersion based on qualitative attributes

Abstract: The dispersion or ‘scatter’ of documents over some set of values of a document attribute is usually described by means of a frequency distribution. When the attribute is qualitative an order distribution can be defined, as in the usual descriptions of Bradford's law. A more succinct description is offered by an order statistic, such as Singleton's index. A novel order statistic, the ‘adapted Gini index’, is introduced and related to the conventional form of Bradford's law. Some simple properties of it are described. An alternative index of dispersion, not an order statistic, based on the relative entropy of the frequency distribution is also defined. For sets of bibliographies such indices themselves have distributions, and it is suggested that, in particular, the distribution pertaining to an indexed data base provides an objective characterization of the data base in so far as indexing terms have been applied to the items in it. A variety of experimental data is reported. This includes the distribution of two indices for samples of bibliographies taken from British Technology Index and Index Medicus, and studies of the variation of the indices with time when the attribute is that of journal title. Whether a new area of knowledge becomes less or more dispersed in its journals as it progresses depends in part on which index is chosen to represent the dispersion, and on whether a series of cumulative or cross‐section bibliographies is chosen.

Documentation note: statistical bibliography—a historical footnote

Abstract: Nearly ten years ago Alan Pritchard, in a ‘Documentation Note’ in this journal, reviewed the use of the term statistical bibliography, and, being dissatisfied with it, proposed bibliometrics as a better name for the subject. He con‐cluded his note by expressing a hope ‘that this term bibliometrics will be used explicitly in all studies which seek to quantify the process of written communication and will quickly gain acceptance in the field of information science’. That hope was indeed quickly realized. In the subsequent years the new term has gained almost—but not quite—universal acceptance by librarians and information scientists, and Pritchard's note, in turn, has been frequently cited in support of the new term's use.

The development of internationally managed information systems and their prospects

Abstract: This paperreviews a selection of international collaborative efforts in the production of information services and attempts to characterize modes of co‐operation. It is argued that economic and political considerations, as much as improved technology of information transfer, will determine the nature of collaboration in future as they have in the past.

Classification in Information Retrieval: The Twenty Years Following Dorking.

Abstract: My contact with Herbert Coblans was limited, alas, to our shared concerns in the field of subject indication. He first sought me out in the early 1960s, ostensibly to find out about the indexing methodology of British Technology Index, then with its birth agonies not too far behind it, but more probably to give moral support. From such a quarter this meant a great deal. I had, for some reason, expected to find him a mechanizing man, to whom I would be required to hand over copious rudimentary enlightenment on subject indication questions, but this was quite wrong. It was I who soon found myself on the receiving end of the enlightenment process.

Concepts of documentation

Abstract: Documentation is a practice concerned with all the processes involved in transferring documents from sources to users. The volume and variety of documents are immense, and consequently procedures of handling them are often pragmatic. Nevertheless, principles emerge that may be applied in practice. It is these principles that we may call ‘concepts of documentation’.

Documentation and the scientific producer/user

Abstract: One of Dr Coblans' most widely read papers was certainly his reassessment of J. D. Bernal's ideas on the communication of scientific information, as originally outlined in The social function of science, published in 1939. Dr Coblans' examination of these ideas was contributed to The science of science, which first appeared in 1964 and was re‐issued as a paperback in 1966. Coblans scrutinized Bernal's work with understandable sympathy, since both the approach and the topics of interest meshed with his own. Bernal, he remarked, was essentially concerned with, ‘the basic methods of publishing information, the inadequacy of the traditional learned periodical as a vehicle of transmission, and user analyses; studies of what working scientists read, why they read, and what use they made of what they have gleaned.’

An extension of the signal detection model of information retrieval

Abstract: It is suggested 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 non‐relevant items is artificial, and that there is really a bivariate distribution of objective relevance and relevance as assessed by the IR system, with positive correlation. This correlation is the appropriate measure of the effectiveness of the IR system, and can be calculated from the shape of the ROC curve.

Historical studies in documentation: the national central library—a historical review

Abstract: The NCL—the National Central Library—came into existence in 1930 and the main part was merged with the NLLST—The National Lending Library for Science and Technology—in 1973 to form BLLD—British Library Lending Division S P H Filon joined the staff of the NCL in 1931 and retired as the Chief Officer of the NCL in 1971,so he was in a special position to provide a history of the NCL from the inside; and he has provided a very readable account of it

Current developments in some local co‐operative library schemes in the u.k.

Abstract: The development of public, commercial and technical libraries, leading to the establishment of local schemes of library co‐operation is outlined Current developments, activities and changes where applicable are discussed in some detail firstly in public‐library‐based schemes and secondly in college‐based schemes The inauguration of SCOCLIS, early activities, period of inaction and more recent revival are described

Recent changes in patent law and their implications for information services and information scientists

Abstract: Four major changes in patent law—the British Patents Act, European Patent Convention, Community Patent Convention and the Patent Co‐operation Treaty are described Comments are made on their likely effect on information scientists and commercial information services and some predictions are made on likely usage of the European Patent Convention by British firms

Development of mechanized documentation

Abstract: In 1964 Herbert Coblans wrote that the development of photo‐effect lithography, the invention and evolution of photographic techniques, had profoundly affected the ‘recording of knowledge, the making of libraries and all that that means’. He went on to ask if ‘two other lines of technical development, Hollerith's punched cards… and the electronic computer … [which] represent a third revolution, comparable to the other two’, had had the same significance for libraries and documentation. When originally asked, this question could not be answered with any clarity. Fourteen years later it should be possible to answer the question with some authority and to identify the other areas of technical development that form an integral part of the mechanized documentation services of today and those which are under development for tomorrow.

Some trends in research and development in documentation

Abstract: In this inevitably personal view, where I have taken documentation to embrace libraries and information centres, services and systems, I propose to stress Research rather than Development—with one exception. Other authors will be considering the application of research results in operational systems of documentation but Herbert Coblans, as a librarian first, would have—and did—welcome the development of automated aid in the basic library processes—to this we shall return.

International co‐operation in information transfer

Abstract: Information transfer, which means the collection, storage, processing and dissemination of information is now a major resource of strategic national and international importance, without which the socio‐economic development of nations cannot be properly achieved.