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A Zipfian Model of an Automatic Bibliographic System: An Application to MEDLINE

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  • Jane Fedorowicz

Abstract

A Zipfian model of an automatic bibliographic system is developed using parameters describing the contents of Its database and its inverted file. The underlying structure of the Zipf distribution is derived, with particular emphasis on its application to work frequencies, especlaiiy with regard to the inverted files of an automatic bibliographic system. Andrew Booth developed a form of Zipf's law which estimates the number of words of a particular frequency for a given author and text. His formulation has been adopted as the basis of a model of term dispersion in an inverted file system. The model is also distinctive in its consideration of the proliferation of spelling errors in free text, and the inclusion of all searchable elements from the system's Inverted file. This model is applied to the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE. The model carries implications for the determination of database storage requirements, search response time, and search exhaustiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Jane Fedorowicz, 1982. "A Zipfian Model of an Automatic Bibliographic System: An Application to MEDLINE," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 33(4), pages 223-232, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:33:y:1982:i:4:p:223-232
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.4630330406
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    Cited by:

    1. William W. Hood & Concepción S. Wilson, 2003. "Informetric studies using databases: Opportunities and challenges," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 58(3), pages 587-608, November.
    2. Yamasaki, Kazuko & Matia, Kaushik & Buldyrev, Sergey V. & Fu, Dongfeng & Pammolli, Fabio & Riccaboni, Massimo & Stanley, H. Eugene, 2004. "Preferential attachment and growth dynamics in complex systems," MPRA Paper 15908, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Feb 2006.

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