A comparison of the retrieval performance of multi-disciplinary table-of-contents databases with conventional specialised databases

Anthony Cavanagh - Deakin University Geelong

Abstract
In an endeavour to compare retrieval performance and journal overlap in a biological field, the same topic was searched on five Table-of-Contents (TOC) databases and three specialised biological databases. Performance was assessed in terms of 'precision' (percentage of retrieved items that were relevant) and 'recall' (percentage of relevant items retrieved) of the search results.

The TOC databases in general had higher precision in that most material found was relevant. They were less satisfactory in recall where some located fewer than 50 per cent of identified high relevance articles. Subject specific databases had overall better recall but lower precision with many more 'false drops' and items of low relevance occurring. These differences were associated with variations in indexing practice/policy and searching capabilities of the various databases. In a further comparison, it was found that the electronic databases, as a group, identified only 75 per cent of the articles known from independent sources to have been published in the field.