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This paper explores how the Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIS) has developed and what it might become. Topics covered include JASIS versus other ASIS publications, types of papers in JASIS, authors, competing journals, content scope, electronic enhancements, and how information scientists might shape the future of JASIS.

An overview of levels and approaches in the evaluation of knowledge-based systems is presented. There is a need for empirical studies using objective criteria in advance of completing the technical evaluation of such systems. A methodology for this type of evaluation developed for a particular knowledge-based indexing system is presented. It is suggested that the proposed study may serve as a model for the design of any evaluation in which the results of existing intellectual procedures are compared with results achieved when these procedures are aided by use of an appropriate expert system. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The current place of on-line systems within the communication process in science and technology is defined. On-line systems can be termed “value-added information sources,” as illustrated by examples of available bibliographic data bases, numeric data banks, and referral data bases. Limitations of existing patterns of data base production and distribution are described, and the management considerations in operating on-line search services in libraries are outlined, including financing, facilities, staffing, service promotion, document delivery, and evaluation. The role of library schools in preparing searchers of on-line systems is also reviewed. A number of future developments in on-line systems are predicted based on available technological forecasts. The ways in which professionals can be expected to use future on-line systems are described, highlighting important differences from the present information-seeking environment. The article concludes with an assessment of the roles of libraries and of information specialists in the world of electronic publication, suggesting that while the library as an institution may decline in importance, the information specialist of the future is likely to provide information support services much richer and more varied than those offered by the librarian of today.

Two trends, the growth of interdisciplinary research and the proliferation of machine-readable data bases, require that new techniques and tools be applied to facilitate use of scientific and medical literature in support of research. In order to permit systematic searching of multiple data bases to satisfy requests in interdisciplinary areas, a mapping of a portion of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to three other controlled vocabularies has been constructed. A description of the development of the mapping is followed by details of a preliminary test of its effectiveness based on searches in the subject areas of applications of physics and engineering in medicine. The test shows: (1) Index Medicus provides an average of 81% of the citations retrieved in searches using more than one source; (2) in some subject areas use of the mapping does allow an increase in the number of items retrieved, but with a loss in precision. Limitations of the mapping revealed by the test suggest possible alternative applications of the mapping in controlled vocabulary development and in on-line searching.