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Four papers are included in Part One of the eighteenth report on Salton's Magical Automatic Retriever of Texts (SMART) project. The first paper: "Content Analysis in Information Retrieval" by S. F. Weiss presents the results of experiments aimed at determining the conditions under which content analysis improves retrieval results as well as the degree of improvement obtained. The second paper: "The 'Generality' Effect and the Retrieval Evaluation for Larger Collections" by G. Salton assesses the role of the generality effect in retrieval system evaluation and gives evaluation results for the comparisons of several document collections of distinct size and generality in the areas of documentation and aerodynamics. In the third paper: "Automatic Indexing Using Bibliographic Citations" by G. Salton citations are used directly to identify document content and an attempt is made to evaluate their effectiveness in a retrieval environment. The final paper: "Automatic Resolution of Ambiguities from Natural Language Text" by S. F. Weiss discusses the evolutionary process by which ambiguities are created and classifies ambiguities into three classes: true, contextual and syntactic. (For the entire SMART project report see LI 002 719, for parts 2-5 see LI 002 721 through LI 002 724.) (NH)

A survey of automatic indexing systems and experiments has been conducted by the Research Information Center and Advisory Service on Information Processing, Information Technology Division, Institute for Applied Technology, National Bureau of Standards. Consideration is first given to indexes compiled by or with the aid of machines, including citation indexes. Automatic derivative indexing is exemplified by key-word-in-context (KWIC) and other word-in-context techniques. Advantages, disadvantages, and possibilities for modification and improvement are discussed. Experiments in automatic assignment indexing are summarized. Related research efforts in such areas as automatic classification and categorization, computer use of thesauri, statistical association techniques, and linguistic data processing are described. A major question is that of evaluation, particularly in view of evidence of human inter-indexer inconsistency. It is concluded that indexes based on words extracted from text are practical for many purposes today, and that automatic assignment indexing and classification experiments show promise for future progress. (Author)

Almost all disciplines make extensive use of the resources provided by slide libraries and picture collections. Growing demands for pictorial material have stimulated a concern for making slide and picture collections more useful and more usable by better physical arrangement and more thorough indexing. The system provides a classification scheme for the organization of general collections of slides and pictures with a broad subject coverage as opposed to the more typical slide classification system which deals with a single subject field. A suggested method of automatic indexing is included. This document will be useful to builders of general collections, and is published as a tool for libraries and other collectors of slides and pictures who have had no ready-made system of classification available. (Author/SG)