TL;DR: It is emphasized that one cannot conclude from these experiments that term clusters (or equivalently, keyword classifications or thesauruses) are not useful in retrieval, and more encouraging results might be obtained using one or more of the following strategies.
TL;DR: The methods used in the Culham RIOT II system, designed to give on‐line access to a data base of 25, 000–50, 000 references, are described and to facilitate query formulation a matrix technique is employed.
Abstract: This paper discusses some particularly desirable features of the user‐computer dialogue involved in query formulation in an on‐line information retrieval system. The methods used in the Culham RIOT II system, designed to give on‐line access to a data base of 25, 000–50, 000 references, are described. To facilitate query formulation a matrix technique is employed and the most recent titles may be displayed while the query statement is under construction and before a full search is requested.