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An Evaluation of Index Medicus and MEDLARS in the Field of Ophthalmology

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  • Julie A. Virgo

Abstract

An evaluation of the performance of Index Medicus and MEDLARS in the field of ophthalmology is presented, using data generated by a separate study. MEDLARS performance figures gave a screened precision ratio of 54% and a recall ratio of 42%. Over the same set of questions Index Medicus had a screened precision ratio of 53 % and a recall ratio of 46%. Results for Index Medicus alone over a larger set of questions gave a 73 % screened precision ratio and a 47% recall ratio. A random sample of MEDLARS and Index Medicus precision and recall failures showed that most of the Index Medicus recall failures resulted from manual searcher omissions. The major causes of MEDLARS precision failures were inadequate indexing terminology to express concepts and attempts at providing too exhaustive a search.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie A. Virgo, 1970. "An Evaluation of Index Medicus and MEDLARS in the Field of Ophthalmology," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 21(4), pages 254-263, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:21:y:1970:i:4:p:254-263
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.4630210406
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