Comparative analysis of two modes of manual searching on the INIS Atomindex

Abstract

To elucidate a relationship between recall and searching time, subject category and subject index searches are performed on four typical search topics using six issues of the Atomindex. On careful comparison of these results with some statistical aspects of 232 profiles for INIS-SDI service at the JAERI, a general pattern of effectiveness of the two manual modes is pursued. The category searches are capable of generating the recall ratio of 100% methodologically in scanning 5 to 30% of the citations in relevant categories of the Atomindex within 4 to 12 hours. The recall ratio in usual scanning is probably limited to some 90% arising from the facts of more appropriate categories than expected for most of the search topics, but the ratios of 60 to 80% are created easily in half of each of the above task time. The subject index searches yield 70 to 100% in searching on 1 to 9% of the titles under relevant main headings systematically with frequent return to abstracts in main entries within 2 to 9 hours. An upper limit of 90% in general cases is likely to result from unimaginable and dispersive assignment of main headings to many specific descriptors, regardless of more than two main headings to 54% of the titles compared with one main heading to 46% in the Atomindex. A turning point seems to exist at a recall ratio between 60 and 85% for each search topic: the category searches obtain more recall than the index after the time for the different properties from each other.