Content area
Research on the use and users of online catalogs con ducted in the early 1980s found that subject searches were the most common form of online catalog search. At the same time, many of the problems experienced by online catalog users have been traced to difficulties with the subject access mechanisms of the online cata log. Numerous proposals have been made for methods intended to improve subject access to online catalog records. These commonly involve enhancing the cata log's bibliographic records with additional terms, or in corporating subject authority files or additional thesauri in the database. Another stream of research has con centrated on applying retrieval techniques derived from information retrieval (IR) research to replace the Boolean search methods of conventional online catalog systems. This study describes the results of retrieval tests using a variety of these search methods in the CHESHIRE experimental online catalog system.
Details
Information retrieval;
Information overload;
Thesauri;
Subject heading schemes;
Research & development--R&D;
Keywords;
Library of Congress Subject Headings;
Library catalogs;
Library associations;
Retrieval performance measures;
Search strategies;
Query expansion;
Search methods;
Academic libraries;
Boolean algebra;
On-line systems;
Relevance feedback;
Bibliographic records;
Catalogs;
Information science;
Databases;
Information systems;
Boolean;
Queries;
Documents;
Internet;
Data mining;
Research;
Archives & records;
Retrieval;
Access