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A feature of research into Information Retrieval has been the continued use of small test collections in experiments. The assumption that any results will remain valid when the system is used to interrogate a large operational database is examined critically particulaIly with regard to the difference in size of collections involved and the reasons for this. Experiments investigatinsg MEDLARS database with reference to several sub-collections containing varying numbers of documents are described. These include analyses of single term and two-term combination behaviour and actual retrieval searches. The effect cn the clustering structure of diffeIent small sub-collections is also studied. The results ottained for MEDLARS are examined in the context of some well-known test collections, namely Cranfield 2 and INSEC. Results for MEDLARS data indicate that very large collecticns ( > 20,000 documents) may be necessary in order to ensure that the experimental data is indeed representative and may therefore be used to accurately predict the performance of a particular system in the operational ervironment.

This thesis considers the concept of information as meaning through the following research question: how can we work critically with a tradition of information systems development methodologies? Motivation for this derives from the way 'hard' methodologies have traditionally regarded information as structured data. This neglects 'soft' concerns for how people attribute meaning to data through a process of 'inward-forming' as they use data to make sense of a situation. The research is potentially important insofar as it considers how viewing information as structured data may have confused attempts at theory building. That is, if information is conceived of as structured data, then this may be reflected in how we conceive of a methodology's theory with the result that the meaning of a methodology becomes guaranteed by the theory. This gives rise to a prescriptive tradition of theory that is potentially misleading because it neglects the personal skills of those who use methodologies. This is investigated through a descriptive/interpretive research approach using a poststructuralist textual analysis of concepts in the theory and practice of a methodology. While structuralism views meaning as something static contained 'within' a text that readers passively consume, poststructuralism emphasises how readers actively derive meaning through their interactions with texts. In addressing the hermeneutic and deconstructive aspects of poststructuralism, the research draws on the philosophers, Paul Ricoeur and Jacques Derrida respectively. With regard to Derrida, deconstruction is used to argue how the main position asserted by a methodology's texts is undermined by elements within the texts themselves. This critically questions the foundations on which a methodology claims to be based. The general purpose is to build theories of methodology that address information as meaning. To this end, the thesis centres on four areas of investigation: it considers themes associated with linking 'hard' and 'soft' methodologies, investigates a specific methodology that links such approaches, raises a critical element by deconstructing concepts in inquiry, and considers implications for the relationship between theory and practice of methodology. The area of application for the research was Multiview Methodology (MVM) because it combines a range of existing methodologies that reflect 'soft' concerns for how people interpret meaning as well as a traditional 'hard' focus on structuring data for use on computerised information systems. The deconstructive approach used in this research is not yet common in the field of information systems. As such, this research is intended to contribute towards new critical strategies that challenge methodologies as conceptual systems in their own right as distinct from strategies that challenge their authors. Focusing on the conceptual implications of methodologies rather than their authors' intentions resulted in four main outcomes: a conception of paradigm as network, which refers to a shared conception of meaning, though commitments to beliefs in particular models vary from heuristic to ontological; a Trojan horse phenomenon, which refers to tendencies to reiterate limitations criticised in others; constraints of traditional print media insofar as these are associated with linear and static descriptions of methodology in use; and methodology as metaphor, which refers to the process through which we understand the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar thereby creating new concepts while still retaining aspects of our past experiences.

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The main objective of the research is to try to achieve 'a value' for library and information services in national planning in Nigeria. Genesis and development of national planning and national planning procedures have been explored. The place of library and information service in national development planning in developing countries, with special reference to Nigeria, as against education, transport, industry, agriculture, health, etc., has been identified. The relations existing between library and information services and scientific development as well as the book trade have also been explored.