Title
Comparative evaluation of the performance of online databases in answering toxicology queries
Author
Robinson, L.
McIlwaine, I.
Copestake, P.
Anderson, C.
TNO BIBRA TNO Kwaliteit van Leven
Publication year
2000
Abstract
An evaluation of toxicology information resources is reported, comparing commercial online databases specialized in-house database. A mixed qualitative/quantitative approach, using 10 test queries and detailed failure analysis was used. The main conclusions are: the in-house database is superior to any `general' database in recall and precision; commercial databases are a useful complement, usually providing unique material; a range of databases should be used for good recall; for the commercial databases, complex search strategies are necessary, using the specific access points of each database; retrieval failures are due primarily to coverage, secondly to poor indexing of specific toxic effect.
Subject
Toxicology
Data structures
Distributed database systems
Online systems
Precision engineering
Query languages
Online databases
Toxicology informations
Information management
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:65530efb-fd9c-474a-8ad8-5284f43498aa
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0268-4012(99)00056-0
TNO identifier
280424
ISSN
0268-4012
Source
International Journal of Information Management, 20 (1), 79-88
Document type
article