Abstract
The primary objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a full text indexing and retrieval system for a scientific document database. The secondary objective was to assess the completeness of the manual indexes that are already available in our domain of documents and effectiveness of searches made on a database consisting of manual indexes. A broader objective was the ability to provide an electronic search facility for this document domain of research papers in geophysics and marine geology. Two retrieval systems were implemented for the purpose. The retrieval system for the manual indexes was implemented with a relational database, whereas, the full text system was implemented with a publicly available full-text indexing and retrieval system. A Web-based user interface was provided in each case that enabled users to search into both databases to retrieve information about the publications. A comparison between the searches on manually generated keyword-based indexes and machine-generated full-text indexes was carried out from the users' perspective using domain-expert scientists. The completeness of available manual indexes and effectiveness of searches made on a database consisting of manual indexes was also assessed. After reviewing the tests' results and experts' opinion it was concluded that 'retrieval through a full-text indexed database is an effective tool to meet users' needs' in the current document domain. It was also concluded that the present available manual indexes are quite sufficient, albeit with some shortcomings, to meet the users' requirements.
Mishra, Jayanta Kumar (1999). A comparative study of retrieval effectiveness from a scientific document database with computer-generated indexing and manually generated keyword-based indexing. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1999 -THESIS -M576.