The possible effect of abstracting guidelines on retrieval performance of free-text searching

摘要

A survey of abstracting guidelines used by producers of bibliographic databases examined abstracting instructions which aim to enhance free-text retrieval. Editors consider content of abstracts and their language as a primary factor in retrieval enhancement. Requirements about the type of abstracts, i.e. informative or indicative, and about their length are not affected by the capability of free-text retrieval. While instructions about content and language of abstracts indicate that better control and coordination results in better retrieval performance, it is not clear as yet in what way type and length of abstracts are affecting retrieval.