ANNOUNCEMENTS
190 DOC INC’S COMPUTEXT
DOC I N C of Washington, D. C. announced a new publishing program of COMPUTEXTS, or electronic “books.” COMPUTEXTS are contained on magnetic tape for electronic computers to print out specifically desired information a t high speeds in plain English anyone can read. The first edition in this series of COMPUTEXTS will be “An Electronic Index to Chemical Patents.” With this electronic index to chemical patents, researchers will be able to have their computers locate in minutes the answers that used t o take days by manual methods. Chemical patents were selected for the first edition of COMPUTEXTS for two reasons: (1) the vast amount of technical information in chemical patents; and (2) the great problem in searching chemical patents, which constitute approximately 15 t o 20% of patent literature. The electronic index t o chemical patents will cover 150,000 patents issued over the 17-year “infringement period” constituting the legal life of a patent. The set of tapes covering this vast amount of data can be contained in only one cubic foot of storage space. Entries on the chemical patents index tape are compatible with the official vocabulary of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering. All terms used by the U. S. Patent Office to classify patents are included. So are all reactions, all products and their uses, all patent compounds, most reagents, intermediates, functional groups and generic levels.
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY’S CENTER FOR INFORMATION SCIE NCES
The Center for the Information Sciences, a transdisciplinary program which will cross the boundaries of many departments, the Graduate School and three undergraduate colleges, Arts and Science, Business Administration, and Engineering has been established a t Lehigh University. The announcement of the New Center, the third interdepartmental and interdisciplinary laboratory for research and instruction to be formed a t Lehigh in as many months, was made by Dr. Harvey A. Neville, President of the university. The two Centers announced previously concern Marine Science and Materials Research. “Established by Lehigh to help bring the world’s stock of recorded information under more adequate control,” stated James D. Mack, University Librarian, “the Center will have three major purposes. They are interdepartmental research in the information sciences, an interdisciplinary program of instruction a t the graduate level, and the development and operation of selected substantive information centers.” The new Center will be a division of the University Library a t Lehigh and will be directed by Robert S. Taylor, associate librarian. The Lehigh Information Science Center will concentrate its activities around the new field of information science
that investigates the properties and behavior of information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing information for optimum accessibility and usability. The initial long-range plans for an interdisciplinary instructional program, set in a research context, for the Center have also been announced. Beginning with this September, the start of the 1962-63 academic year, a series of twelve seminars covering the spectrum of the information sciences is being planned for the university’s faculty and students and for other interested persons. During the year of 1963-64, a one-semester introductory course in scientific information systems will be offered. During the following years a graduate level curriculum, supplemented by courses in psychology, industrial engineering, philosophy and mathematics, will be developed a t Lehigh. Proposals for research aspects of the new Center are now being prepared. The instructional program will be centered around four basic aspects: flow and use of scientific information, information sources, linguistic and information analysis, and the design and evaluation of systems. I t is planned that the Center will engage actively in the design and operation of substantive information centers. I n large measure the choice of fields for these systems will depend upon the research activity undertaken a t the university. Among the areas under present consideration are Water Resources, Material Science, Human Fatigue and Marine Science. Present research capabilities in the field of information sciences, based on the present work of Lehigh faculty members, include such areas as: theory of information storage and retrieval, semantic and logical syntax of natural and artificial languages, computability of syntactic analysis, development of methodology for the analysis of information use, research on the statistical properties of text, simulation of retrieval systems for analysis and evaluation, and programming for linear deduction in logic. Although the Center will be a division of the University Library, the director will be assisted by an advisory committee made u p of the following Lehigh faculty members: Professor John J. Karakash, head of the department of electrical engineering; William A. Smith, Jr., associate professor of industrial engineering and director of the Computing Laboratory; Professor George R . Jenkins, Director of the Institute of Research; Dr. Robert D. Stout, Dean of the Graduate School; Dr. Donald J. Hillman, Assistant Professor of Philosophy; and Dr. Francis J. Wuest, Assistant Professor of Psychology. A grant of $6,600 from NSF to support a research project, “Study of Theories and Models of Information Storage and Retrieval,” directed by Donald J. Hillman, will begin about June 1, 1962 and will last for approximately two years. The principal feature of the research project will be an analysis of the theories underlying design and operation of information systems. Certain mathematical and logicomathematical models will be examined and will be tested in cooperation with other information studies a t Lehigh. The four models to be investigated are “The Boolean Algebra Model,” “The Relational Model,” “N-Dimensional Euclidean Geometry Model,” and “The TreeRepresentation Model.” I t is expected that the project will develop new theories out of the study.
ANNOUNCEMENTS RECENT ACTIVITIES OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDAT1ON BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOVIET SCIENCE OFFERED,-A bibliography to provide researchers, librarians, and students with basic information on Soviet scientific and technical activity has been completed with the aid of a Foundation grant. Entitled “Soviet Science and Technology: A Bibliography on the State of the Art. 195551961,’’ and available for $1 each from the Superintendant of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., the 2109-page compilation contains about 2,000 annotated entries for periodic and monographic materials from Soviet bloc and Western sources published for the most part between 1955 and 1961. References fall into four main categories: surveys, bibliographies, reports of visits to Soviet scientific and industrial institutions, and articles deemed to show significant Soviet progress in particular fields. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author or first word of title under approximately 100 subject headings. Titles in languages of the Soviet bloc have been translated, while those in Western languages have not been. PHYSICISTS TO PUBLISH NEW RAPID JOURNAL.-In recognition of the existing pressure for faster publication of important new research resuli:s, the American Institute of Physics is inaugurating a new rapilj journal, Applied Physics Letters. Made possible by an NSF grant, the new journal will supplement Physical Reuiew Letters, which does not ordinarily publish applied physics material. The first issue of the new journal should appear July 1, 1962; it will be pub:lished 24 times a year, with about 20 pages per issue. BIOLOGISTS’ COMMUNICATION METHODS STUDIED. Communication channels in biology is the subject of a study initiated in June by the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The study is an examination of the use made by biologists of personal, informal channels of communication for obtaining information useful in their research projects. These channels include meetings, conferences, seminars, telephone conversations, correspondence, etc. Expected to take about nine months, the study is being carried out by the AIBS Biological Sciences Communication Project and is supported by a Foundation grant.
BEHAVIORAL FACTORS I N I R SYSTEMS BEING STUDIED.-The effects of behavioral considerations on the attainment of the objectives of information retrieval systems is the subject of a study being conducted by the Advanced Information Systems Company (AIS) of the Electrada Corporation, Los Angeles, under a contract with the National Science Foundation. Techniques are being sought to enable the system designer to anticipate problem areas likely to be encountered in the implementation of a particular system. The AIS study postulates that behavioral and organizational considerations can be assessed in terms of a limited number of factors, and that the degree of success in the change to a particular information system in a given organizational structure can be predicted on the basis of these factors. MODEL INFORMATION SYSTEM STUDIED.-Massachusetts Institute of Technology is undertaking an exploratory study looking toward the development of a realistic test environment in the Boston area fix the evaluation of new ideas and systems components that would contribute to more effective flow of scientific information. Such a test environment is expected to afford the possibility of evaluating certain system problems that do not arise in the design of individual components. The study is being conducted by M. M. Kessler and W. N. Locke of M I T and is supported by at Foundation grant.
191
REPORT OF COORDINATE INDEXIKG STUDY AVAILABLE.-Under the terms of a 1960 contract with the National Science Foundation, Documentation Incorporated, Washington, D. C., conducted a broad-scale study of the state of the art of coordinate indexing, a technique using individual indexing terms or short compound terms that can be combined in the process of searching. A report on the study has been prepared and, while the supply lasts, copies may be obtained from the Documentation Research Program, Office of Science Information Service, National Science Foundation, Washington 25, D. C. The report, “State of the Art of Coordinate Indexing,” contains, among others, chapters on the literature of coordinate indexing; coordinate indexing and classification theory-the development of coordinate indexing; vocabulary generation; and control, modification, and growth of vocabularies.
OTS EVALUATING PERMUTED T I T L E INDEX TO GOVERNMENT REPORTS.-The office of Technical Services (OTS), with the support and collaboration of the National Science Foundation, is beginning distribution of a permuted title index to all Government report literature presently being made available through OTS. The index will speed up announcement of documents entering the report literature population. Also, the index will permit experimentation with the evaluation of this type of announcement system, whose preparation (as compared to a publication like U . S.Government Research Reports) costs more in time,and money but provides more information, in the form of abstracts, and more sophisticated searching capability. The permuted listing will initially be made available automatically and for evaluation purposes to subscribers to USGRR. Free copies for anyone interested in studying and evaluating the new index may be obtained on request from the Office of Technical Services, Department of Commerce, Washington 25, D. C. Eventually the permuted title index will be made available on a subscription basis from the Superintendent of Documents.
RESEARCH ON INDEXING SYSTEMS ADVANCES. The National Science Foundation has granted continuing support of an investigation of the performance characteristics of indexing systems. The project, now in its fifth year, is administered by the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureau, London, England, and is under the direction of C. W. Cleverdon, Librarian of the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, England. The work so far has resulted in valuable data on the efficiencies of four systems-Universal Decimal Classification, a faceted classification, an alphabetical subject catalog, and a Uniterm indexing system-in retrieving information relevant to search questions and on the reasons for failures to locate relevant information.
ARL EXPANDS ACTIVITIES, ESTABLISHES SECRETARIAT.-The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), with NSF support, is establishing a full-time secretariat, expanding its membership, and developing projects directed at the solution of problems facing research libraries in this country. The objective is development of a program for (1) finding more efficient ways of integrating materials into research library collections, (2) searching for better recruitment and training methods to meet manpower requirements of research libraries, (3) promoting effective application of new technology to library operations and (4) promoting the effective use of scientific research materials by the research community.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
192
U. S.-JAPAN PHYSICISTS I N JOINT PUBLISHING VENTURE.-Under the terms of a cooperative project between the Physical Society of Japan and the American Institute of Physics, the Institute has agreed to establish 500 U. S. subsubscriptions to the new monthly Japanese Journal of Applied Physics and guarantee them for two years. Within this period of time, it is expected that the journal will become more widely known and accepted in this country, thus providing American science with the published results of important Japanese physics research. This program is the first in a planned series of cooperative ventures between U. S. scientific societies and their Japanese counterparts, and is supported by an NSF grant. Publication will be initiated in July with a subscription rate to non-members of the Physical Society of Japan of $10. Additional information is available from the American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45th Street, New York 17, N . Y.
INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL THEORtheoretical study of methods and techniques of information storage and retrieval has been initiated by D. J . Hillman of Lehigh University with the support of the Foundation. A principal feature of the study will be an analysis of the theories underlying the design and operation of information systems. During the study, certain mathematical and logicomathematical models will be examined, in terms of whose structures the information systems they support can best be described. It is expected that new theories will be developed out of these models which can then be subjected to experimental corroboration.
IES STUDIED.-A
FIND-IT FIND-IT is a new product designed to provide the individual researcher with a flexible retrieval tool for his personal document collection. Use of prescored and prenumbered mass produced cards has made possible a low cost version of the peek-a-boo concept coordination system developed by the National Bureau of Standards. With FIND-IT documents are numbered and filed serially. The document number is punched out on the appropriate subject cards. T o retrieve, the subject cards of interest are placed on top of each other. The holes that show through all of the cards are the numbers of the relevant documents. FIND-IT is compatible with the A.1.Ch.E. Information Retrieval Standard and will minimize the clerical work required in maintenance of the key-word card file since FIND-IT cards can be posted without removal from the file, thus eliminating refiling. A complete kit, consisting of 200 prescored and prenumbered (1-400) subject cards, 25 index guides, a metal file desk tray, correction seals, punch and instructions, is available from FIND-IT, P.O. Box 36074, Los Angeles 36, California, for $9.95 plus $0.75 for shipping and handling.
ACTIVITIES IN CHEMICAL DOCUMENTATION
A project to study the current and future role of scientific abstracting, indexing, and reviewing services in the United States has been undertaken with support by the National Science Foundation. The National Federation of Science Abstracting and Indexing Services, Washington, D. C., is to define national goals and means of attainment in regard to such information services provided scientists. The first phase of the project is t o review the present system for providing scientific information in order to: (1) develop an improved program for identification and procurement of specific information needed by scientists, (2) develop a long range plan for improving and expanding the system for communicating scientific information, and (3) delineate subjects of further study. A study of factors governing the announcement and publication of Government-sponsored research reports has been completed by Herner and Company, 906 New Hampshire Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. Produced under contract for the Foundation, the final report of the study contains data relating to origination, announcement, and publication patterns together with time intervals involved among separate Federal agencies. The data will be used by the Foundation and others to determine ways to improve dissemination of the research reports. An experimental study contracted by the Foundation with Datatrol Corporation, Silver Spring, Maryland, will explore convertibility between two different indexing vocabularies. The study is expected to produce basic data required to evaluate the difficulties of applying one such vocabulary to information previously catalogued in another. T o be compared are the technical indexing and retrieval vocabularies used by the Armed Services Technical Information Agency and the Atomic Energy Commission. Increasing the potential value of research libraries to their regional scientific communities is the subject of a Foundation-sponsored study initiated by West Virginia University. Under consideration are current techniques of interlibrary lending within a region, improvement of lending services, and investigation of the capability of a major research library to provide bibliographic and reference service as a part of interlibrary lending service. The study will attempt to develop new concepts regarding research library cooperation in general. The percentage of published biological research supported by the Federal Government is to be determined by a literature survey conducted by the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The Foundation-supported survey will compare 1960 and 1950 issues of 100 selected journals t o determine sources of support. The study will provide data to publishers of biological research contemplating the use of journal page charges.
193
Division of Chemical Literature Barbara M. Davis, Secretary
Fred R. Whaley, Chairman
MONDAY MORNING (September 10, 1962)
10:55-20.
Symposium on Introduction to Information Retrieval
11:30-21.
9:OO-9:05- 1. 9130- 2. 9:55- 3 . 10335- 4. 11:OO- 5. 11~25-6. 11:50-
Julius Frome, Presiding. Jacob Leibowitz. Classification and Mechanization. John 0. Costello, Jr. An Introduction to Deep (Coordinate) Indexes. Isaac D. Welt. Indexes and Index Mechanization in Biomedicine. JOHNR . VAN WAZER,Paul Logue, William A. Wilkinson. Information Retrieval at the New Monsanto Information Center. Mortimer Tautie. Authority Lists and Cross References for Coordinate Indexing. Hans Peter Luhn. Automatically Prepared Combinatorial Indexes as a Competitor to Mechanical Searches in Information Retrieval. Discussion.
11345121302:OO2 105-22. 2:35-23. 3:OO-24.
33263:35-
MOKDAY AFTERNOON Symposium on ACS Divisional Preprints-Purpose, Production and Costs. and Place in the Chemical Literature 2:OO2:05- 7.
2:2O- 8. 2135- 9. 2 : 45-10.
3:OO-ll. 3:15-12. 3~35-13. 3~45-14. 4:00-15.
4:20-
Herman Skolnik, Presiding. Richard A. Glenn. Division of Fuel Chemistry Preprints-Advantages and Problems. John Craver. Division of Organic Coatings and Plastic Chemistry Preprints-Advantages and Problems. Chester R. Flosenbaum. Division of Polymer Chemistry P:reprints-Advantages and Problems. Henry C. Bramer. Division of Water and Waste Preprints-Advantages and Problems. Alex G. Oblad. From the Division of Petroleum Chemistry Preprints to a Journal. Joseph H. Kuriey. Economics of ,'dblishing Divisional Preprints. Robert F . Gould. Advances in Chemistry Series as a Publication Outlet for Divisions. Richard L. Kenyon. Relationship of Journals t o Preprints. Fred A. Tate. The Place of Preprints in the Chemical Literature. Discussion.
TUESDAY E V E K I S G
C. C. Conrad. Presiding at Open Meeting of Committee on Chemical Documentation.
8:OO-
WEDNESDAY MORNING (September 12, 1962) Progress Reports on Multiple Access Information Retrieval Systems: A Symposium 9:OO9:15-25. 9:45-26. 10:15-27. 11:00-28. 11:30-29.
TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERSOON (September 11, 1962) General 9:OO9:05-16. 9:35-17. Note: 10:35-19.
Dean F. Gamble, Presiding. Arno Cahn. A Simple, Xonmechanical Coding System for 1nfo:rmation Retrieval in Organic Chemistry. E. M. CRANE,Paul Horowitz. HECSAGON: A System for Computer Storage and Retrieval of Chemical S t r x t u r e . Since printing (sf this program, paper 18 has been withdrawn and paper 2 1 moved into its place. K. Hirayama, .A. FUJINO.Logograph-A Universal Symbolic Language for the Communication of Chemical Procedures.
Julius Frome, PAULT. O'DAY.A General Chemical Compound Code Sheet Format. Ethaline Cortelyou. Teaching as a Duty of the Company or Organization Editor. Discussion. Divisional Luncheon. Dean F. Gamble, Presiding. G. M. DYSON,M. F. Lynch. Chemical-Biological Activities. A Computer-produced Express List. C. M. LAUER,Fred R. Whaley. A Formula Index for Silicon Chemicals. 0. H. BUCHANAN, J . M. Dreisenstock, E. A. Conrad, R. G. Traub, Helen E . Ginsberg. CLINIC-a New Concept for the Mechanized Processing of Clinical Data on New Drugs. I. A Preliminary Report. Discussion. Divisional Business Meeting.
John C. Costello, Jr., Presiding. ALFREDM. ANZALONE, Gunther Cohn. Computer Techniques Applied to Compiling an Index of Ordance Data. J. P. CAPONIO,T . L. Gillum. Practical Aspects Concerning the Development and Use of ASTIA's Thesaurus in Information Retrieval. Edward Dugger. Development of Materials Information Processing at Aeronautical Systems Division. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Carl R. Haefele. Some Unusual Features of a Chemical Retrieval System Used in the Eastman Kodak Company. F. W. Matthews. Searching X-ray Diffraction Powder Data with an Inverted Coordinate Index.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOOK Symposium an Government Services for Technical Information
2:OO2115-30. 2:452:55-31. 3:253:35-32. 4:O.K 4: 1s-33.
Harold Wooster, Presiding. Monroe E. Freeman. Technical Information for Research Program Management. Discussion. James Vann. ASTIA Redivus-Implications of ASTIA Innovations for Documentation. Discussion. John C. Green. The Role of the United States Department of Commerce. Discussion. Melvin S.Day. The NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
194 DREXEL INSTITUTE SEMINAR
The place of electronic computers in information handling will be the emphasis of the’“SEM1NAR I N SEARCH STRATEGY;” this course will be given October 8 to 26, 1962, a t Drexel Institute of Technology library school. T o arrive a t the criteria for evaluating computers in this context many different ones will be compared. The methods of programming them for indexing, abstracting, printing, statistical analyzing, and searching will also be compared. Stressed throughout will be the human functions so necessary to a complete system. T h e studies culminate with each student taking the role of a systems analyst and responding to a request for aid to convert a rather large conventional system to an automated system. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL CONFERENCE
The Center for Documentation and Communication Research, School of Library Science, Western Reserve University will sponsor a conference, “Information Retrieval in Action,” April 18-20, 1962. The conference, to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, will review research, development, and operational activities related to machine literature searching systems using the G E 225 generalpurpose computer. Specific areas to be covered include: a . The development and operation of mechanized searching systems for the literature of metallurgy, diabetes, communicable diseases, and education research. b. The comparative testing and evaluation of information retrieval systems. c. The administration and operation of information retrieval systems with special emphasis on the basic unit operations involved. d. The analysis of fundamental problems underlying the operation of information retrieval systems and an examination (based on search data) of practical and theoretical problems such as pertinency, relevancy, the use of the thesaurus, and the application of models in documentation.
SHORT COURSE FOR INDUSTRIAL INFORMATION SPECIALISTS October 29-November 9, 1962 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 13, Georgia
Purpose.-This program is designed to assist industrial and government information personnel in developing greater competence in technical literature and in bibliographic techniques. I t should be especially useful to those working in the technical libraries of industrial concerns, government agencies, and other organizations concerned with scientific and engineering work. Registration.-Applicants should have a Bachelor of Science degree in science or engineering (or its equivalent in experience). I t is not necessary that an applicant have formal training in library or general bibliographic techniques. A reservation for enrollment can be accepted now, subject t o more complete information on the official registration form. The form will be a part of the final announcement of the course which will be issued a t least two months before the course begins. Course.-This intensive two-week program will include sixty-eight hours of lecture-discussion work, plus approximately fifteen hours of guided study and problem time. Nearly one-third of the classroom time will be devoted to methods of organizing information for storage and retrieval. Approximately one-fourth of the total time will be devoted to information sources and search techniques in several scientific and engineering disciplines. Other subjects that will be covered in the course will include presentation of information, an examination of the theoretical considerations of scientific information, and the management of information services. Fee: $250.00.
