The Universal Reference System

The UNIVERSAL REFERENCE S Y s z h r is a computerized documentation and information retrieval system employing citations of material above a modest level of quality, appearing in all social and behavioral sciences, annotated, and indexed by author. I t employs a set of standard descriptors that are arranged according to a master system of topics and methodological techniques, plus various unique descriptors. Products of the URS are made available as an individual service to projects, agencies, scholars, other professionals, and students, and also in published form on subscription and/or general public sale uin mail order through channels maintained by The American Behnoiornl Scientist magazine. The flow chart on page 4, entitled “The Universal Reference System,” shows the numerous steps taken to process documents \v1Iic]l come from the intellectual community until they cycle back into the same community as delivered instruments of improved scholarsl~ip. The Catslogue mentioned in the chart (Step IS) is illustrated on p. 13. The Index referred to (Step 17) is pictured on p. 14. cause of their format, their incompleteness, their lack of selectivity, their formulation in traditional and conventional terms of the social sciences (slighting the so-called inter-disciplinary subject matters in methodology), and the simple indexing that they employ. Continuous efforts are being made to solve such problems. A vicious economic cycle is a t work in the matter of information retrieval, too: Scholars and students give up research because there are no tools to search with, and therefore their demand for searching tools decreases because they have learned to get along without thc materials. That is, the standiirds of all the social sciences are lowered because of an anticipated lack of success in Iiandling the problems of information retrieval. The economic risk, therefore, of an information retrieval service 11as to be taken into account: hlany professionals are like the Bengal peasant who cannot aid in his own economic development because he cannot conceive of the nature of the problem and has Jearned to live as a victim outside of it. A Study in the June, 19647 issue of The Americntt Belinoioral Scientist magazine shows what the need is today, even before the full capabilities of new systems are appreciated. One-half of a sample of social and behavioral scientists reported that, due to inadequate bibliographic aids, they had discovered significant information on some research too late to use it, and that this information wouId have significantly affected the scope and nature of their research. In a number of cases, the problem of the researcher was reported to be inadequate access to preexisting materials, and in other cases, was said to be insufficient means of addressing oneself to current material. So the currcnt ways of information retrieval, or lack thereof, are deficient with respect both to retrospective searching and to current material, not to mention the alarming problem of access to prospective material, in the form of current research project activities and current news of scientific development in relevant categories. (The Aiiicrican Bchauiornl Scientist also has recently introduced a mechnnizcd reporting of new researcli projects in the social and behavioral scicnces.) I t is important, therefore, to regard the inform a t’ ion retrieval idea as one of vast range, that is, as a multipurpose instrument grounded in the social psycl~ology of science, as the liigliest manifestation of the applied sciences, and as one of the most complex and far-reaching Background of the Work