INFORMATION
RETRIEVAL
SEfiVIOES
cf EPA's office c
solid waste management
programs
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INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES
of EPA's Office of Solid Waste Management Programs
This publication (SW-91) was written
by JOHN A. CONNOLLY
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
1972
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An environmental protection publication (SW-91)
in the solid waste management series
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CONTENTS
SWIRS SECTION
DATA BASE
USER SERVICES
GENERAL INQUIRIES
LITERATURE SEARCHES
TRANSLATIONS
INSTRUCTIONS IN SWIRS USE
LIBRARY SECTION
FUTURE PLANS
Figures
1. SWIRS Data-Base Input/Output
2. Sample SWIRS Abstract Sheet
3. SWIRS Search Procedure
Table
1. List of SWIRS Subject Categories
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INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES
OF ERA'S OFFICE OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
The Information Retrieval Services Branch of the Office of Solid
Waste Management Programs (OSWMP) performs one of the three functions of
the Technical Information Staff. The primary mission of this branch is
to fulfill the objectives of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 related
to collecting and disseminating the results of technological developments
published throughout the world in the field of solid waste management.
In accomplishing this mission, the Branch coordinates its activities with
other Federal information storage and retrieval systems, State and local
systems, and the World Health Organization.
The Branch is composed of two sections: the Solid Waste Information
Retrieval System (SWIRS) Section, with data bank holdings of approximately
18,000 items (as of September 1972), and the Library Section. The SWIRS
Section supports the legislative and EPA objective of making solid waste
management information widely available; its holdings are supplemented by
those of the Library Section. The users, data base, facilities, and
services of these two sections are described in the following paragraphs.
SWIRS SECTION
SWIRS consists of a comprehensive collection of published interna-
tional literature relevant to solid waste management. Materials selected
for the data bank are retrievable by automated means; the types and
quantity of stored documents are detailed below. Although the collection
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is primarily technically-oriented, a useful body of semi technical and
nontechnical information is also available. Users of the system include
Federal, State, and local agencies in the United States and abroad as
well as members of the general research and development community, con-
sulting engineers, attorneys, students, and others of the lay public.
DATA BASE
Documents to be entered in SWIRS are drawn from a wide variety of
published sources (Figure 1). In addition to a core list of approximately
700 titles, primary and secondary periodical literature is obtained from a
screening of more than 7000 titles available to the system's contractor.
Other sources for the data bank include patent literature from the United
States and eight foreign countries, and such nonperiodical documents as
conference papers, books, technical reports, monographs, and laws. Mater-
ials are also collected in Japan, Europe, and the United States by regular
personal contact with key persons in government, industry, and universities
who are working in the field of solid waste management.
Although this coverage is extensive, we recognize that no amount of
effort will identify all pertinent documents. SWIRS therefore welcomes
suggestions from any source for additional documents that should be made
available to system users.
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FIGURE 1
SWIRS Data-Base Input/Output
Patents
Non-
periodical
documents
Catalog,
abstract,
i ndex
Thesaurus
SWIRS
abstract
publications
SWIRS
computer
data bank
Full
text
of
documents
Library
Section
Files of
abstracts
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All aspects of solid waste management reported in the technical
literature are considered for inclusion into the data bank (Table 1).
After selection and during input preparation, specific keywords describ-
ing the documents in detail are assigned; these keywords are drawn from
SWIRS's thesaurus of terms.
TABLE 1
Major Subject Categories of SWIRS Documents
Agricultural wastes (includes crop residues and animal manures)
Analysis of solid waste
Automobile (abandoned autos, processing, separating, salvaging, reduction, collection of autos. Recycling
of automobile parts will be found under Automobile, not under Recycling)
Bulky wastes (includes building-demolition and highway-construction debris)
Collection (includes transfer stations). See a/so Transport
Compost/Composting (includes equipment, processes, and marketing)
Disposal (multisystems only). See a/so Specific methods
Economics (includes costs, fees, taxes, and financing)
Hazardous wastes (includes pesticides)
Health/Safety
Incineration (includes all burning processes and pyrolysis)
Industrial wastes (excludes sewage sludge and slurry)
Institutional wastes (includes hospitals, schools, universities, research facilities)
Law/Regulations (includes ordinances and bills)
Litter
Management (includes the facility as well as overall concept of the system)
Ocean disposal (includes all waterways)
Packaging wastes (includes plastic, glass, and metals)
Processing/Reduction (excludes composting and incineration)
Recycling (includes reclamation, utilization, salvage, recovery and reuse). See a/so Automobile
Research
Sanitary landfill (includes all land disposal)
Separation
Sludge (includes sewage sludge and slurry)
Storage (includes receptacles, containers, and sacks)
Street cleaning (includes snow removal and sweeping equipment)
Training, Education, and Public Relations
Transport (includes pipelines, pneumatic systems, rail, truck or barge haul). See a/so Collection
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As of mid-September 1972, the system contained information for
approximately 18,000 documents, dating primarily from 1964 to the present.
The computer data bank contains the following searchable elements:
Document accession number
Up to three personal authors or a corporate author
Year of publication
Indication of whether document is foreign or domestic
Indication of whether document is scientific (chemical formulations,
analyses); technical (engineering design, specifications); or
general
Up to 15 keywords from a controlled vocabulary of approximately 800
terms.
For each document in the computer data bank having the preceding
elements, a sheet is prepared which contains the full citation, including
English titles of foreign-language documents, and an informative abstract
of up to 300 words (Figure 2). Paper and microfilm files of these sheets
are maintained to facilitate retrieval. The full texts of all documents
accessioned are stored in the Library Section.
Assuring users of current information, the lag time from receipt of
a document for screening to entry into the SWIRS data bank and Library
Section is 3 to 4 weeks.
Processed documents also are used to provide copy for a monthly
abstract publication, using computer-driven photocomposition techniques
that operate directly on input data recorded on magnetic tapes. Monthly
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FIGURE 2
Sample SWIRS Abstract Sheet
SOLID WASTE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM
I 15930
C. NUMBER ACCESSION
AUTHOR: Ready, T. J.
TITLE: Detailed clan for total recvclino plant
PERIODICAL TITLE: Secondary Raw Materials
VOLUME: 9 NUMBER: 2 PAGES:120-122, OATE: Feb. 1971
LANGUAGE: 124-125,127-128,131-133,135
The Aluminum Association has developed a detailed plan for a recycling
nlant that consists of technically feasible devices and processes
which will be evaluated sinnly and in combination. The plant inputs
wastes at one end and outputs saleable material at the other. Special
emphasis has been placed on economic factors - capital investments,
operating costs, revenues from recycled goods, and potential sale of
by-product energy. The design also accounts for odor control, waste
water quality, and air emissions. The only limiting factor in the
economic success of the plant is the value of the materials in the
garbage. The proposed demonstration plant can handle 2,500 tons of
municioal refuse per week., or the amount generated by a population of
175,000 to 225,000. It consists of a receiving and shredding area with
its own operators' control station, tv/o 200-ton-oer-day incinerators which
can produce steam, two electromaonetic separators, and a conveyer belt.
(D) (T)
KEYWORDS: reclamation; metal; aluminum; pilot plant; economics;
shredding; incinerator; separator; conveyor:
o
CO
FC»: ". I (CIN)
(HFV. 2-7 n
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and yearly author and subject indices wi 11 facilitate use of the abstract
bulletin. The primary use of SWIRS input, however, is the computer data
bank, which is used to respond to specific user demands (Figure 1).
Selected abstracts and patents are grouped by subject and have been
published through 1968; 1969 through 1971 are in press. This series of
annotated bibliographies covers the periodical and report literature from
1957 through 1971; unannotated bibliographies cover the period from 1940
to 1957. Selected solid waste management devices and systems patented in
the United States and abroad are summarized and illustrated in patent
abstract bulletins covering the period from 1875 through 1971. One
volume pertains to patents issued from 1875 to 1966 which relate to
equipment and processes used in buildings; another two-volume set
(U.S. and international) covers all aspects of solid waste management
for the period 1945 through 1969; a third volume covers all aspects for
1970 and 1971.
USER SERVICES
In addition to the abstract bulletin and annotated bibliographies,
SWIRS offers users a variety of services, including responding to general
inquiries, conducting specific literature searches, providing technical
translations, and conducting SWIRS user seminars. No fee is charged at
present for any of these services.
GENERAL INQUIRIES
Written, telephoned, or in-person inquiries are honored for general
information that can be provided without a machine search, such as a
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request by a student for "publications that give me a general picture of
the solid waste problem in the United States." Referral services are
also provided to direct an inquirer to persons working in OSWMP, other
agencies of the Government, or others who are knowledgeable in the sub-
ject of the request. General information may be requested by calling
area code 202 254-7506 or by visiting SWIRS at 1835 K Street, N.W.,
Washington, D. C.
LITERATURE SEARCHES
Comprehensive literature searches may be obtained by written request
to Solid Waste Information Retrieval System (SWIRS), Post Office Box 2365,
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Three sources of information within the OSWMP
Technical Information Staff, and other government or private sources, are
tapped in response to such requests (Figure 3).
The primary source is the SWIRS computerized data bank, containing
information about approximately 18,000 scientific and technical documents.
Capability exists for selective retrieval by a variety of keywords and
other data elements, permitting entry of a question such as: "What
technology exists in Eastern Europe related to utilization of heat from
incinerators since 1969?" Machine searches also may be conducted to
provide complete bibliographic citation information to an incomplete
reference, or to verify the accuracy of a citation.
Requests are entered and monitored from a communications terminal,
resulting in a printout at the terminal of pertinent document accession
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FIGURE 3
SWIRS Search Procedure
SWIRS
computer
data bank
Pertinent
accession
numbers
Abstracts
microfilm
Paper copies of
pertinent
abstracts _L
OSWMP
Publications
Services
OSWMP-generated publications
Library
Section
Citations
Other
sources
Additional information
Information
package
L.
_j
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numbers and/or full abstracts. The microfilmed abstracts of these
documents are then carefully screened by an information analyst for
relevance to the search topic, and paper copies of all relevant ab-
stracts, with full bibliographic citations, are made for inclusion
in the information package sent to the requestor. (Copyright restric-
tions preclude provision of full text of pertinent articles.)
A search of the Library Section is made and citations of pertinent
holdings, as well as related Program publications, are provided to the
SWIRS Section. (As described later in this paper, users may then
request interlibrary loan of Library Section nonperiodical documents.)
Requests are also made to other sources of information, such as
knowledgeable OSWMP personnel, the Science Information Exchange of
the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the Federal
Government interlibrary loan system, State and local solid waste manage-
ment agencies, and OSWMP contractor and grant facilities. When possible,
pertinent additional information from these sources is included in the
information package sent to SWIRS users; supplementary information may
be sent directly to the user by the source.
Currently, search requests are normally answered within one week
of receipt of the written request.
To ensure that the SWIRS data base is responsive to users' needs,
feedback is sought through user evaluation of the effectiveness of
searches received, including suggestions for adding documents he may
have known of that were not included in the search information package.
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Feedback is also obtained through periodic structured interviews with
key users. Based on such feedback, the criteria used to select docu-
ments for input to SWIRS are updated, and terms are added to or
deleted from the thesaurus to reflect changing technology and shifting
priorities.
TRANSLATIONS
Full translations of scientific and technical documents in the
SWIRS data bank can be requested by OSWMP personnel or by OSWMP contrac-
tors through the cognizant OSWMP Division, Branch, or Section Chief.
Under a soft-currency contract (Public Law 480), translations of
scientific and technical papers, monographs, and reports are provided
where response time is not critical. Fast-turnaround translation
requirements are met under contract with a domestic organization.
INSTRUCTIONS IN SWIRS USE
Instructions are provided to SWIRS users through seminars and by
means of a Users' Guide/Thesaurus, available from 1835 K Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20460. Although the seminars are primarily designed
for OSWMP personnel, other government and nongovernment users may
request an appointment for demonstration and instruction. The seminars
provide users with a detailed knowledge of how they can best take
advantage of the SWIRS data bank and related facilities.
LIBRARY SECTION
The library, located at 1835 K Street N.W., Washington, D.C.,
contains approximately 2,500 books, monographs, conference proceedings,
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and reports related to all aspects of solid waste management.
The library is open to all users; hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. In addition to the preceding nonperiodical documents, the reading
area contains selected general reference publications, such as foreign-
language dictionaries, association directories, directories of research
institutes, and a wide selection of solid-waste-related periodicals.
Nonperiodical documents may be borrowed directly from the library
by OSWMP personnel. The loan of reports and other documents relating
to OSWMP demonstration, research, State planning and training grants,
and contracts may be requested through another recognized library.
At present, the library does not lend periodicals and provides no
photoduplication services.
FUTURE PLANS
In the near future, the full citation and abstract of each document
in the SWIRS collection will be added to the computer data bank, pro-
viding direct high-speed printout of pertinent abstracts in response to
machine searches. With this addition, full-text searches can be
conducted, rather than limiting the vocabulary to approved thesaurus
terms. Machine-generated bibliographies also will be available with
this addition.
U.S. GOVERMMEKTPRUfTING OFfICt 1972 — 759-547/1014
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