The Efficiency of the subject Retrieval of Bibliographic Records in the Automated catalog of South Valley University Libraries

., .; EL Araby, Ahmed; Bakry, Zainab Ali

doi:10.21608/qarts.2025.401941.2268

The Efficiency of the subject Retrieval of Bibliographic Records in the Automated catalog of South Valley University Libraries

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/qarts.2025.401941.2268

Abstract

The experimental study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of subject retrieval during searches using subject headings, both before and after correcting errors in bibliographic records. This was done by examining the errors identified through the analytical study in the fields related to standardized subject access points, particularly the Subject Heading field (650) in the bibliographic records of information resources, to assess their impact on the subject retrieval process.

The experimental study demonstrated that some errors affected retrieval directly, while others impacted the quality of the online catalog, as previously mentioned. Furthermore, correcting these errors had a significant effect in improving both recall performance and precision. The study concluded that most retrieval issues stem from cataloging errors rather than flaws in the system itself. Therefore, it is essential to rely on standardized cataloging and adhere to the principles of subject heading selection, such as specificity, consistency, and uniformity.

The study reached several findings, the most important of which are:

• The average overall retrieval rate of bibliographic records by subject heading in the pre-test was 48.6%, while the average overall retrieval rate increased to 61.4% after correcting errors in the non-approved bibliographic records (post-test).

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