Automated Document Retrieval based on Istributed Processing

Abstract

A personal view of bibliographic information retrieval is presented. It concludes that for the most part, the results of research in this area have tended to be ignored by the designers of large on-line retrieval systems. Several reasons for this are mooted and a number of requirements are established for overcoming the inertia of system designers. Notably, the need for large scale experimentation with retrieval methods in operational environments is highlighted. To meet those requirements, it is described how a microcomputer system can be used to access on-line bibliographic retrieval systems rather than an ordinary computer terminal. The capability of the retrieval system plus microcomputer configuration is extensively evaluated. Firstly, potential applications are reviewed and secondly, an in depth study is carried out of the implementation of a weighted search term retrieval mechanism. A suitable microcomputer system was designed and built for the purpose of the study. Its structure is very sophisticated employing three microprocessors. The main conclusion of the work is that a relatively inexpensive microcomputer can provide the research community with a powerful tool allowing the evaluation of experimental retrieval techniques in operational environments.