Proceedings of the International Conference on Scientific Information
WASHINGTON, D.C. · NOVEMBER 16–21 · 1958
IN TWO VOLUMES
Sponsors of the Conference: National Science Foundation
National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council
American Documentation Institute
National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council
Washington, D.C. · 1959
IN MEMORIAM
THE CONFERENCE owes more perhaps to Dr. Alberto F.Thompson than to any other individual, for he transformed the initial conception into a plan that others finally carried out. As Head of the Office of Scientific Information of the National Science Foundation he was deeply involved in the planning of the Conference, possibly too deeply, for he gave himself with boundless enthusiasm to all that interested him, regardless of limitations of time and health.
An organic chemist, Dr. Thompson received his Ph.D. degree at Harvard, did post-graduate work at the University of Munich, and taught at the University of Minnesota and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a major in the Manhattan District of the US Corps of Engineers during World War II, he worked on the development of the atomic bomb. He became Chief of the Technical Information Service of the US Atomic Energy Commission and in November, 1955, he joined the staff of the National Science Foundation. Among his achievements were publication of the National Nuclear Energy Series and the establishment of Nuclear Science Abstracts.
His infectious good humor and the brilliant range of his interests (from limericks and model railroads to the works of Mozart and the cultivation of roses) won the affection of all, even of those who disagreed with him.
Too energetic and too wise to see science in terms less than international, he saw the information problem on the same scale; yet he searched always for the most effective immediate measures. Operations research on the flow of scientific information received strong encouragement from him: he was deeply interested in mechanical translation and electronic data processing systems. At the same time, he had utmost respect for the physically simple retrieval systems.
Alberto Thompson’s expectations for the Conference combined high hopes with New England practicality. We hope that the Conference succeeded in achieving what he would have wished: to inspire us with the vision of the future without letting us forget the realities of the present.
GILBERT W.KING
CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION
Conference Committee
Wallace W.Atwood, Jr., Chairman and NAS-NRC Representative
Burton W.Adkinson, NSF Representative
Milton O.Lee, ADI Representative
Charles I.Campbell, Program Committee
Henry J.Dubester, Local Arrangements
John C.Green, Exhibits
Mary McC.Sheppard, Secretary
Program Committee
Charles I.Campbell, Chairman
Helen L.Brownson, Area 1
Dwight E.Gray, Area 2
Joseph Hilsenrath, Area 3
Mary Elizabeth Stevens, Area 4
H.P.Luhn, Area 5
Lawrence F.Buckland, Area 6
Frank B.Rogers, Area 7
Discussion Panel Chairmen
Area 1 Philip M.Morse, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Area 2 Elmer Hutchisson, American Institute of Physics, New York, N.Y.
Area 3 Alexander King, European Productivity Agency, Paris, France
Area 4 Eric de Grolier, Centre Français D’Échanges et de Documentation Techniques, Milan, Italy
Area 5 Gilbert W.King, IBM Research Center, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
Area 6 John W.Tukey, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
Area 7 Verner W.Clapp, Council on Library Resources, Inc., Washington, D.C.
Local Arrangements Committee Henry J.Dubester, Chairman
Marion E.Bonniwell · Saul Herner · Rita G.Liepina
Wyvona A.Lane · Madeline M.Berry
Exhibits Committee John C.Green, Chairman
Eugene E.Miller · Gerald J.Sophar · Don D.Andrews · Isaac Fleischmann
PREFACE
ON BEHALF OF ALL THOSE who for the past three years have devoted considerable time and effort in preparation for the International Conference on Scientific Information, it is my privilege to present herewith the Proceedings. Certain members of the American Documentation Institute, among them Milton O.Lee, originally conceived the idea for this type of conference. They wanted to bring together on an international level scientists and information specialists for discussion of current research progress and problems concerned primarily with the storage and retrieval of scientific information. Ultimately these aims and ideas were developed until there resulted this Conference, jointly sponsored by the American Documentation Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council.
The American Documentation Institute is a private organization, supported by membership dues. After a modest beginning in 1937 it grew in size and stature until today its membership includes some 300 individuals professionally engaged in working with information and documentation in one capacity or another. In 1947 the Institute became the United States national member of the International Federation for Documentation.
The National Science Foundation, an independent agency of the Federal Government, was established in 1950 by Act of Congress. Its main functions are to support basic research and education in the sciences and to foster the exchange of scientific information. The chief executive officer of the Foundation is the Director. Final responsibility for establishing Foundation policy lies with the 24-member National Science Board whose distinguished members are appointed by the President of the United States with the approval of the Senate. The Foundation is playing an increasingly significant role in strengthening the scientific capabilities of the country.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit organization established in 1863 and dedicated to the furtherance of science for the general welfare. Its membership is comprised of more than 550 leading scientists of this country. Its congressional charter provides that the Academy advise the Government on scientific matters. In 1918 the National Research Council was established by executive order of the President of the United States as part of the National Academy of Sciences, and has since given the organization its
present character and popular name of the Academy—Research Council.
Appropriately, the opening session of the Conference on 16 November included welcoming remarks by the representatives of the three sponsoring bodies. Milton O.Lee greeted the delegates on behalf of the American Documentation Institute and reviewed the way the Conference plan had originated, developed, and matured. Alan T.Waterman, the Director, spoke on behalf of the National Science Foundation. The final welcome was extended by Detlev W.Bronk, President of the National Academy of Sciences. In concluding his remarks Dr. Bronk expressed gratitude to the Royal Society for having had the vision to sponsor a significant conference on scientific information in 1948. Thus the stage was set for the address by Sir Lindor Brown, which is reproduced elsewhere in these volumes.
The Conference Banquet on 19 November marked the midway point for the Conference. On this occasion Alexander King, President of the International Federation for Documentation, was toastmaster and introduced the speakers.
Dr. Waterman, who spoke first, said that during the ten years which had passed since the Royal Society Conference, an increasing recognition had developed of the problems and the importance of scientific information. He reviewed briefly the efforts of the United States Government to meet scientific information needs and, more specifically, what the National Science Foundation was prepared to do in this important area.
The second speaker was Herman Henkle, President of the American Documentation Institute. Dr. Henkle’s informal remarks stressed the immediacy of the roots Americans have in overseas lands and in the cultures of those lands.
The principal address was given by Dr. Bronk who drew attention to the need for a synthesis of knowledge at a time when specialization grows ever more common and more narrow and so tends to erect new barriers to understanding. The solution to this problem, Dr. Bronk said, must lie in developing a broad awareness while cultivating one’s own special knowledge. He believed that this, plus individual integrity, was the best assurance against the danger that scientists might find themselves cut off from one another by each one’s exclusive concentration on his own field of interest.
Having given this very brief summary of the opening of the Conference and the banquet program, I commend to you the Conference reports prepared by the panel chairmen and which constitute a major and significant portion of these Proceedings.
Although it would be impossible to name all those whose special skills were devoted at one time or another to insuring the success of the Conference, I would like to take this occasion to acknowledge their many contributions.
And especially I express appreciation to my colleagues on the Conference Committee who carried the responsibilities of Conference planning and organization: to Charles I.Campbell, chairman of the Program Committee; to Henry Dubester, chairman of the Local Arrangements Committee; to John Green, chairman of the Exhibits Committee; and to our talented Executive Secretary, Mrs. Mary McC.Sheppard, whose enthusiasm and boundless energy gave courage and support to all of us throughout the 3 years of Conference activity. To these persons and to the large corps of volunteers who served as members of committees, I extend the sincere thanks of the sponsoring organizations.
It is our hope that this Conference will stimulate further research and closer cooperation among those who are attempting to cope with the problems involved in making scientific information easily and rapidly available. We also hope that these Proceedings will be of value to the many hundreds who were unable to attend the discussion sessions of the Conference.
WALLACE W.ATWOOD, JR.
INTRODUCTION
THE PROCEEDINGS of the International Conference on Scientific Information, which are published here, will be better understood if it is explained how the Conference aim was defined and how the program was arranged to advance that aim.
During the spring and summer of 1956, an informal Preliminary Planning Committee met nearly every week to define the scope of the Conference and to devise a plan for carrying it out. Chairman of the Preliminary Planning Committee was Milton O.Lee, American Physiological Society. Members included: Scott Adams, National Institutes of Health; Samuel Alexander, National Bureau of Standards; Robert F.Bray, The Library of Congress; Helen L.Brownson, National Science Foundation; Charles I.Campbell, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council; Verner W.Clapp, Council on Library Resources, Inc.; J.E.Cummins, Australian Scientific Liaison Office; Dwight E.Gray, National Science Foundation; John C.Green, Department of Commerce; Joseph Hilsenrath, National Bureau of Standards; William T.Mason, Department of Commerce; Frank B.Rogers, National Library of Medicine; Mary Elizabeth Stevens, National Bureau of Standards; and Mortimer Taube, Documentation, Inc. A provisional Secretariat was established at this time with Alberto F.Thompson of the National Science Foundation as Executive Secretary and Mary McC.Sheppard of the Academy-Research Council as his assistant. Many others from this country and abroad met with the Committee at various times to give counsel and guidance.
After preliminary plans and working documents were developed, an ad hoc committee composed of 50 distinguished scientists and information specialists, under the chairmanship of Warren Weaver of the Rockefeller Foundation, was convened on November 11, 1956, at the request of the Academy-Research Council, to review the proposed Conference plans, its aims and scope, and to determine whether such a Conference was warranted. At the recommendation of this ad hoc committee, planning for the Conference proceeded. The proposed content of each of the seven areas of discussion in the Conference was outlined in detail, and the following criteria for acceptable papers were established:
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Papers will deal with work that has not been published or presented at any open meeting. Work will be considered to have been published if it has been repro-
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duced for general distribution in any form or if copies have been deposited in libraries where they are available to the public.
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Papers will be directed to specialists in the field covered. Only sufficient background information will be included to serve as an adequate framework for new work described in the papers. More general background material will be indicated by references.
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Papers dealing with systems and methods will describe these at length only when they have not been described previously. If new methods or systems are involved, these will be described in sufficient detail to enable other qualified workers to duplicate the procedures and the results. There will be sufficient information to enable qualified readers to judge the validity of results in objective terms.
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Theoretical papers will clearly explain the factual basis from which theoretical conclusions have been drawn and will point the way to experimental methods of verifying predictions which follow from such theoretical conclusions.
These criteria, together with the definitions of the Discussion Areas, which will be found at the opening of each section in these volumes, were provided to all prospective authors.
Early in 1957, a formal policy committee was created with Milton O.Lee, representing the American Documentation Institute; Wallace W.Atwood, Jr., representing the Academy-Research Council; Alberto F.Thompson, representing the National Science Foundation; and Eugene Power and J.E.Cummins named as members-at-large. Also established at this time was a Program Committee with responsibility for reviewing and selecting papers in accordance with the scope and criteria for papers, for appointing discussion panel members, and for making arrangements for the Conference program proper. Charles I.Campbell, The Rockefeller Institute, was named Chairman. Other members of the Committee, selected from the preliminary planning group, and their respective areas of responsibility were: Area 1, Helen L.Brownson; Area 2, Dwight E.Gray; Area 3, Joseph Hilsenrath; Area 4, Mary Elizabeth Stevens; and Area 7, Frank B.Rogers. Two new members were added: H.P. Luhn of the IBM Research Center who accepted the responsibility for Area 5, and Lawrence F.Buckland of Itek Corp., for Area 6. Miss Madeline M.Berry of the National Science Foundation was of very great assistance to the committee, especially in developing the program for Area 5.
All those connected with the Conference were saddened by the death of Alberto F.Thompson in June, 1957. During the reorganization which followed, a Conference Committee was established early in 1958 with Wallace W.Atwood, Jr., of the Academy-Research Council becoming Chairman and Mary McC.Sheppard continuing as Secretary. Thomas O.Jones, Acting Head of the Office of Scientific Information, provided valuable help as a Com-
mittee member from June to December, 1957, when Burton W.Adkinson became Head of the Office of Scientific Information and thus became the Foundation’s representative on the ICSI policy committee. About this time Eugene Power resigned because of the pressure of other activities, and J.E.Cummins resigned when he accepted a position with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Others named to the Committee in 1958 were: John C. Green, Department of Commerce, in charge of exhibits; and Henry J.Dubester, The Library of Congress, in charge of local arrangements. The Committee structure thereafter remained unchanged.
Because of the narrowly defined scope of the Conference and the intention rigorously to select contributions, it was believed to be wise to consider outlines of proposed papers well in advance of the preparation of papers themselves. We hoped in this way to avoid at least part of the grief of declining to accept papers that had been, in a sense, solicited. During 1957, therefore, an immense amount of correspondence was carried on by the members of the Program Committee and the Secretariat with somewhat under a thousand potential authors of papers in nearly every country of the world. All decisions on papers were taken by the Committee jointly, though we often sought the guidance of referees. We were forced in some cases to decline very sound contributions that concentrated on aspects of the scientific problem that had been excluded from the program explicitly or implicitly. From the approximately 150 papers that were given formal consideration, 75 papers were selected.
These papers served as stimulating and valuable points of departure for the discussions of the Conference. We may hope that through their publication here they may provide a basis for further progress in research throughout the world.
CHARLES I.CAMPBELL
CONTENTS
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The Haystaq System: Past, Present, and Future |
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A Proposed Information Handling System for a Large Research Organization |
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Information Handling in a Large Information System |
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Tabledex: A New Coordinate Indexing Method for Bound Book Form Bibliographies |
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The Comac: An Efficient Punched Card Collating System for the Storage and Retrieval of Information |
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The Structure of Information Retrieval Systems |
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The Descriptive Continuum: A “Generalized” Theory of Indexing |
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Algebraic Representation of Storage and Retrieval Languages |
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A Mathematical Theory of Language Symbols in Retrieval |
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Abstract Theory of Retrieval Coding |
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Maze Structure and Information Retrieval |
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Responsibilities for Scientific Information in Biology: Proposal for Financing a Comprehensive System |
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Responsibility for the Development of Scientific Information as a National Resource |
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Differences in International Arrangements for Financial Support of Information Services |
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Training for Activity in Scientific Documentation Work |
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Training the Scientific Information Officer |
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Training for Scientific Information Work in Great Britain |
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The ICSU Abstracting Board: The Story of a Venture in International Cooperation |
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Creation of an International Center of Scientific Information |
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An International Institute for Scientific Information |
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