USER APPRAISAL AND COST ANALYSIS OF THE AEROSPACE MATERIALS INFORMATION CENTER

Abstract : An evaluation study was performed for the Aerospace Materials Information Center document retrieval system. Both system performance and economic criteria were established. Analysis of responses indicated that the AMIC system compares favorably with other information centers with regard to providing pertinent materials with a sufficiently rapid response. Results showed a wide interest in special types of documents as well as the technical reports. State-of-the-art, symposium proceedings, bibliographies, handbooks, trade literature and computer programs were indicated as being of high interest. The respondents indicated a fairly high dependence on information services, both within their own organization and outside information services. Cost figures for the past four years show that by far the major cost item is the input of documents into the system. The average cost per document including all clerical and professional effort and overhead has averaged about $10 per item. The cost of searches has varied from $33 to $49 per search including computer time, professional time and clerical time and overhead. Much of the variation in cost can be attributed to the degree of batching of searches. Certain modifications were incorporated into the AMIC system, primarily in response to respondents to the evaluation form.