Information Retrieval List Digest 273 (September 18, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/irld/irld-273 IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 September 18, 1995 Volume XII, Number 36 Issue 273 ********************************************************** III. NOTICES B. Meetings 1. ACM Digital Libraries '96 2. ISKO '96 C. Miscellaneous 1. NIST Z39.50 Software IV. PROJECTS A. Abstracts 1. IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts ********************************************************** III. NOTICES III.B.1. Fr: Juliet A. Conlon Re: ACM Digital Libraries ACM DL'96 --- Digital Libraries '96 First ACM International Conference on Digital Libraries Bethesda, Maryland March 20-23, 1996 ACM Digital Libraries '96 is an international conference devoted to advancing the state-of-the-art in digital libraries. Three sessions at the conference have been reserved for the working groups of the Digital Library Forum. These groups are studying aspects of interoperability in digital libraries. During the sessions, members of the groups will describe the objectives of the groups, describe progress to date, and lead discussions of the issues. The topics will likely include open architectures for digital libraries, archiving and digital preservation, and the National Computer Science Technical Reports Library. TECHNICAL PROGRAM: We seek papers, posters and videos on the one hand--and proposals for tutorials and workshops on the other hand-- on topics related to Digital Libraries, such as: * architectures, reference models, standards * authoring and electronic publishing * cataloging, indexing, preserving * collaborative environments * collecting, capturing, filtering * distributed data, knowledge and information representation and systems * economic and social implications and issues * education, learning and related applications * evaluation methods and user testing * handling of graphics, GIS, multimedia information * hypertext and hypermedia systems (especially including WWW) and support * information storage and retrieval * intellectual property rights * modeling and simulation * networked information discovery * networking systems, protocols, security * publisher plans and concerns * user interfaces * visualization, browsing, searching. PAPERS: Technical papers present original reports of innovative and substantive new work that has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers are refereed by a pool of reviewers for the conference proceedings, published by ACM. Submissions should be in near-final form. IMPORTANT DATES: Oct. 15, 1995 --- Papers due to Program Chair Dec. 1, 1995 --- Authors notified about PC decisions Jan. 1, 1996 --- Papers due to Program Chair SUBMISSIONS: Papers must be written in English and contain a maximum of 6000 words (excluding figures). It should be in 10 point Times Roman, single-spaced, and be no more than 12 pages. The proceedings will be printed in typical ACM 2-column format, and articles will have a limit of 10 pages. Six copies of paper submissions must be provided. Electronic submissions must be in Adobe's Portable Document Format, and contain a Subject line with the words: DL96 PDF Submission. Send submissions to arrive by October 15, 1995 to: Edward A. Fox Dept. of Computer Science 660 McBryde Hall Virginia Tech Blacksburg VA 24061-0106 Phone +1-540-231-5113 FAX +1-540-231-6075 Email: fox@vt.edu TUTORIALS: Tutorials are invited on topics such as: * Principles and practices of library science (Abstracting, Indexing and Classification) * User behavior and information needs analysis (User Needs and Services) * Information Retrieval and Hypertext (Searching, Browsing) * Open System Design for the Internet Submissions require a 200-word abstract, a 1-page topical outline of the course content, and describe course objectives, intended audience, and the qualifications of instructor(s). Proposers are encouraged to contact the tutorials chairperson to discuss planned proposals. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of background of the instructor(s) and the contribution of the tutorial to the overall conference program. Submit four copies of the proposal by October 15, 1995 to: Edie Rasmussen SLIS University of Pittsburgh 135 N. Bellefield Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Phone (412) 624-9459 Fax (412) 648-7001 erasmus@lis.pitt.edu POSTERS: Submissions should consist of an extended abstract of at most two pages emphasizing the problem, what was done or is being done, and why the work is important. Include: title, name and affiliation of the author(s) and complete contact information. Extended abstracts of the posters will be published in the conference proceedings. Submit four copies of the proposal by November 1, 1995 to: Beth Davis-Brown National Digital Library Program LIBN/O/NDL (1000) The Library of Congress Washington, DC 20540 Phone (202)-707-3301 Fax (202)-707-0815 bbro@loc.gov VIDEOS: Selected videos will be shown at a session during the conference so authors can verbally annotate their work. Videos must be no longer than 5 minutes in length. VHS format (NTSC) is required for review, and Hi-8, SVHS, or Betacam SP are the formats required for final submissions. It is likely that an author-supplied or conference-prepared digital video version will be prepared also and made available, so be sure that suitable releases can be provided for all submissions. Include a one-page summary of the video which will be published in the conference proceedings. Submit two copies of the videotape and written summary by October 15, 1995 to: Charles Goldstein National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894 Phone (301) 496-1936 Fax (301) 480-6183 chuck@nlm.nih.gov WORKSHOPS: Organizers should draft a call describing the workshop and submit a three-page proposal containing: an outline of the theme and goals of the workshop, a description of the intended audience, an overview of activities planned for the workshop, estimates of number of participants, and a brief description of the organizer backgrounds and experience. Submit four copies of the proposal by October 15, 1995 to: Maria Zemankova Database and Expert Systems Division of Information, Robotics, and Intelligent Systems National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd. Room 1115 Arlington, VA 22230 Phone: (703) 306-1930 Fax: (701) 306-0599 mzemanko@nsf.gov FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION: http://fox.cs.vt.edu/DL96/ ********** III.B.2. Fr: Rebecca Green Re: ISKO4--Knowledge Organization and Change International Society for Knowledge Organization Fourth International Conference: July 15-18, 1996, Washington, DC Knowledge organization in the coming century will differ markedly from that of this past century. Continued information and document growth, expansion and change in user needs and information-seeking behaviors, and changes in technological, political, economic, educational, and social environments mandate increased development and improvement in knowledge organization tools, techniques, schemes, and systems. KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION AND CHANGE: Papers and panels addressing Knowledge Organization and Change from any of the following interlocking perspectives are invited: From an Environmental Perspective: the impact of ongoing changes in technological, political, economic, educational, and social environments on how knowledge is produced, organized, and used From an Information/Knowledge Perspective: the challenges created by changing views of knowledge (e.g., theories of knowledge, stores of knowledge) across time, cultures, languages, disciplines, users, and uses From a Document Perspective: new methods of creating and presenting documents (e.g., collaborative documents, hypertext, multimedia); changes in text composition, genres, and discourse; dynamic documents; managing document versions, variants, and views From a User Perspective: expansion of and change in user needs and user information-seeking behaviors; the effect of user interface design on users' abilities to access and assimilate information; the effect of discourse and interpretive communities, disciplinary/interdisciplinary communication, and network communications on users' conceptions of knowledge From a Knowledge Organization Systems Perspective: new developments in knowledge organization tools, techniques, schemes, and systems; natural language processing and expert systems; response of knowledge organization theory and practice to change in other arenas; management of change in knowledge organization schemes and systems The conference will also celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Dewey Decimal Classification, and papers addressing the conference theme with respect to DDC are especially welcome. Prospective speakers or panels are asked to submit extended abstracts of 500-1000 words by September 30, 1995 to Rebecca Green, Program Chair (see contact information below; electronic submissions welcome--please mention ISKO in subject line). An international program committee will review the papers, and authors will be notified of acceptance decisions by January 31, 1996. The deadline for submission of papers for the printed conference proceedings will be March 31, 1996. CONFERENCE CHAIR: Sarah Thomas, phone: +1 202 707-5333; fax: +1 202 707-6269 internet: stho@loc.gov PROGRAM CHAIR: Rebecca Green College of Library and Information Services phone: +1 301 405-2050; fax: +1 301 314-9145 internet: rgreen@umd5.umd.edu LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS CHAIR: Jolande Goldberg Cataloging Policy and Support Office phone: +1 202 707-4386; fax: +1 202 707-6629 internet: goldberg@mail.loc.gov ********************************************************** IV. PROJECTS IV.A.1. Fr: Susanne M. Humphrey Re: Selected IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts The following are citations selected by title and abstract as being of potential interest to the Information Retrieval (IR) community, resulting from a computer search, using the CDP/Online system, of the Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) database produced by University Microfilms International (UMI). Included are accession number (AN); author (AU); title (TI); degree, institution, year, number of pages (IN); UMI order number (DD); reference to the published DAI (SO); abstract (AB); one or more DAI subject descriptors chosen by the author (DE); thesis adviser (AR); and dates associated with the monthly update file (UP). Unless otherwise specified, paper or microform copies of dissertations may be ordered from University Microfilms International, Dissertation Copies, Post Office Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; telephone for U.S. (except Michigan, Hawaii, Alaska): 1-800-521-3042, for Canada: 1-800-343-5299; fax: 313-973-1540. Price lists and other ordering and shipping information are in the introduction to the published DAI. An alternate source for copies is sometimes provided. Dissertation titles and abstracts contained here are published with permission of University Microfilms International, publishers of Dissertation Abstracts International (copyright by University Microfilms International), and may not be reproduced without their prior permission. AN AAI9509485 AU Buckley, James Patrick. TI A FUZZY DATABASE APPROACH TO HANDLING STRUCTURED TEXTUAL INPUT WITH UNCERTAINTY (STRUCTURED INPUT, DATABASE). IN Thesis (PH.D.)--TULANE UNIVERSITY, 1994, 111p. DD Order Number: AAI9509485. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 55-11, Section: B, page: 4934. AB A multidisciplinary approach is developed and demonstrated for exploiting knowledge about structure for the purpose of extracting information from noisy textual data. This approach combines the active database paradigm, database organization and clustering of records, fuzzy parsing, fuzzy retrieval, an aggregation algebra, and measures of both performance and accuracy. Fuzzy retrieval, in the form of set and fuzzy operators, is accomplished by considering each symbol of the input text to be imperfect and retrieving non-exact matching records from the database that hold for a particular threshold value. The set of low-level database operators constrain the cardinality and accuracy of retrievals. A hierarchical method of clustering the database is defined, whereby the records are partitioned in a manner such that similar records are in the same cluster. This clustering strategy is guaranteed to be mutually exclusive and a complete cover of the data records. Associated with these clusters is an algebra that combines clusters of data into one window of ranked data. A set of fuzzy measures are defined that are used to aggregate and rank sets of records. DE Computer Science. AR Buckles, Bill P. UP 9504. Revised: 950427. AN AAI9509373 AU Li, Tianzhu. TI AN INQUIRY OF USERS' MENTAL MODELS OF THE ERIC CD-ROM SYSTEM AND THEIR SEARCH PROCESS. IN Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1994, 188p. DD Order Number: AAI9509373. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 55-11, Section: A, page: 3401. AB The diversity of user interfaces and the deficiency of training limit end-users' access to information from CD-ROM systems. The purposes of this study were to improve our understanding of CD-ROM search by end-users so that effective user training could be designed and user interfaces of information retrieval systems improved. CD-ROM search is considered as a kind of problem solving. Based on research on mental models, human-computer interaction and online search, the researcher asked the questions: What are the experts' and end-users' mental models of the ERIC CD-ROM system and how do these models affect their search performance? Eleven subjects from three user groups in a university were studied with two search tasks on the ERIC CD-ROM system. Video-recording, key stroke capture, teach-back methods and questionnaires were used to collect the data of users' interaction with the system and computing experience. Graphic presentation of the search steps and actions indicated that the process of CD-ROM search is correspondent to the process of constructing mental models. It is found that novice users were different from expert searchers in analyzing the questions, forming search strategies, choosing search mode, selecting search terms, evaluating and accepting search results. Protocol analysis showed that the styles and levels of mental representation varies from user to user. Subjects preferred verbal descriptions to other styles, and presented the system at task level. It is also found that users interpreted the same question differently, and took on sides of the issue in the search questions. Subjects with formal training in online search played roles of intermediaries. Expert searchers' mental models of the system are more complete than novice users. It is concluded that research on information seeking from electronic databases should study how end-users interpret the search questions as well as what they really want from the databases. Both training and system design should facilitate users in constructing the appropriate mental models of the system and in identifying their specific information needs. Recommendations are made for future studies. DE Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Education, Technology. Information Science. AR Winn, William D. UP 9504. Revised: 950427. AN AAI9511344 AU Hastings, Samantha Kelly. TI AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF INTELLECTUAL ACCESS TO DIGITIZED ART IMAGES. IN Thesis (PH.D.)--THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1994, 151p. DD Order Number: AAI9511344. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 55-11, Section: A, page: 3339. AB The study describes the nature of intellectual access to digitized art images using qualitative methodologies. Images of Caribbean paintings were digitized and the process of querying the Caribbean art images observed. Queries of art historians are analyzed and compared to retrieval parameters and image characteristics. Four major categories, developed during the coding of data, are: Queries, Manipulations, Recommendations, and Applications. Concepts are identified that relate the complexity of the query, the access points, and the types of computer manipulations needed to retrieve relevant answer sets. Findings from the investigation include: (1) Queries are identified that include levels of complexity; (2) Queries change in levels of complexity when digital images are used; (3) Some queries cannot be answered by use of a surrogate image; and (4) There are identifiable characteristics of the images that relate in complexity to queries of style. Based on identified relationships, a proposed model of intellectual access to digitized art images is depicted and described. DE Library Science. Art History. Computer Science. AR Logan, Elisabeth. UP 9504. Revised: 950427. ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. 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