An investigation of computerized information storage and retrieval methods, in a film library organized according to the universal decimal classification

Staff, Brian Eric (1979). An investigation of computerized information storage and retrieval methods, in a film library organized according to the universal decimal classification. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0000d626

Abstract

The operation of the BBC Film Library was studied with the intention of defining those areas likely to benefit from computerization. The state of the art of computerized information retrieval was assessed by means of the literature, and those techniques likely to be of use at the Film Library were isolated.

Computer programs were written to provide an information storage and retrieval system paralleling the manual system currently used at the Film Library, organized according to the UNIVERSAL DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION (UDC). These programs were operated by the film librarians in situ.

A computerized system able to "learn" from enquiries was built and tested, and document clustering was also investigated as a method of subject classification.

A modular approach to retrieval system design was developed within the framework of a Relational Database system, so that the various retrieval methods examined in the course of the study could be cemented into one concertive retrieval system.