A comparison of a keyword from title index with a single access point per document alphabetic subject index

Abstract

Two indexes to a collection of 3,204 documents in the field of chemistry were test-searched. The indexes are a keyword from title index without added keywords and a single access point per document alphabetic subject index. The indexes were searched by 13 graduate chemistry students using 55 questions. Search results are characterized in terms of recall, precision, and search time. There is no statistically significant difference in recall and precision search results between the multiple access points per document keyword from title index and the single access point per document alphabetic subject index. Search time was significantly better for the alphabetic subject index for all but those questions having only one relevant document.