Editorial
The LC/MARC Record As a National Standard
(p.159-160)
S. MICHAEL MALINCONICO
Feature Articles
Principles of Format Design (p.161-167)
HENRIETTE D. AVRAM AND LUCIA J. RATHER
This paper is a summary of several working papers prepared for the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Working Group on Content Designators. The first working paper, January 1973, discussed the obstacles confronting the Working Group, stated the scope of responsibility for the Working Group, and gave definitions of the terms, tags, indicator and data element identifiers, as well as a statement of the function of each. The first paper was submitted to the Working Group for comments and was subsequently modified (revised April 1973) to reflect those comments there were applicable to the scope of the Working Group and to the definition and function of content designators. The present paper makes the basic assumption that there will be a SUPERMARC and discusses principles of format design. This series of papers is being published in the interest of alerting the library community to international activities. All individual working papers are submitted to the MARBI interdivisional committee of ALA by the chairman of the IFLA Working Group for comments by that committee.
Techniques for Special Processing of Data
within Bibliographic Text (p.168-182)
PAULA GOOSSENS
An analysis of the codification practices of bibliographic descriptions reveals a multiplicity of ways to solve the problem of the special processing of certain characters within a bibliographic element.To obtain a clear insight into this subject, a review of the techniques used in different systems is given. The basic principles of each technique are stated, examples given, and advantages and disadvantages are weighed. Simple local applications as well as more ambitious shared cataloging projects are considered.
MARCIVE: A Cooperative Automated Library
System (p.183-200)
VIRGINIA M. BOWDEN AND RUBY B. MILLER
The MARCIVE Library System is a batch computer system utilizing both the MARC tapes and local cataloging to provide catalog cards, book catalogs, and selective bibliographies for five academic libraries in San Antonio, Texas. The development of the system is traced and present procedures are described. Batch retrieval from the MARC records plus the modification of these records costs less than twenty cents per title. Computer costs for retrieval, modification, and card production average sixty-six cents per title, between seven and ten cents per card. The attributes and limitations of the MARCIVE system are compared with those of the OCLC system.
Application of the Variety-Generator Approach
to Searches of Personal Names in Bibliographic Data Bases - Part 2. Optimization
of Key-Sets, and Evaluation of Their Retrieval Efficiency (p.201-213)
DIRK W. FOKKER AND MICHAEL F. LYNCH
Keys consisting of variable-length character strings from the front and rear of surnames, derived by analysis of author names in a particular data base, are used to provide approximate representations of author names. When combined in appropriate ratios, and used together with keys for each of the first two initials of personal names, they provide a high degree of discrimination in search. Methods for optimization of key-sets are described, and the performance of key-sets varying in size between 150 and 300 is determined at file sizes up to 50,000 name entries. The effects of varying the proportions of the queries present in the file are also examined. The results obtained with fixed-length keys are compared with those for variable-length keys, showing the latter to be greatly superior. Implications of the work for a variety of types of information systems are discussed.
Technical Communications
Light-Pen Technology at the University
of South Carolina - The South Carolina Circulation System (p.226-227)
KENNETH F. TOOMBS
(no abstract available)