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Hosts: ESA-information retrieval service (ESA-IRS), Télésystémes Questel. 
Descriptions, as released by the ESA-IRS and Télésystémes Questel, are given 
in the Appendices 2 and 3. 
2,3 Geo Abstracts 
A multidisciplinary data base in the field of the geo-sciences including the 
subjects photogrammetry and remote sensing. Geo Abstracts has planned to be access- 
ible on-line by the end of 1982. (Future) host: DIALOG Information Services, 
Inc., a subsidiary of Lockheed Corporation. 
A full description, as released by the Geo Abstracts, is given in Appendix 4. 
  
2.4 RESORS 
A data base specially developed for literature on remote sensing and "photo- 
grammetry from a distance", so not on close range photogrammetry. RESORS is ac- 
cessible on-line in Canada. Users outside Canada should state their requests 
for information by telephone or by mail (post card approach). 
A full description, as released by RESORS, is given in Appendix 5. 
3. The Procedure of Investigation 
To accomplish the investigation, the 3 data bases mentioned under 2.1 - 2.3 have 
been compared. The RESORS data base could not be included in the investigation 
because it is neither accessible on-line in Europe, nor are there available print- 
ed editions. 
The empirical test was fulfilled as follows: 
3.1 A list has been composed of those journals which are regularly scanned for 
(at least one of) the three compared data bases (Appendix 6). 
3.2 A number of 40 articles have been selected from various journals, taking 
into account the spreading within the subject field, the geographical spread- 
ing and the language. 
3.3 Of the papers submitted to the XIVth Congress of the ISP, 10 arbitary titles 
for each of the 7 commissions have been selected and compared. 
The results are presented in the diagram of Fig. 2, Appendix 7. 
The investigation was performed manually by persuing the printed editions 
which are edited parallel to the update of the data bases. That it has 
not been done on-line is due to the fact that searches of this kind are 
consuming relatively (too) much computer time. And moreover, as for Geo 
Abstracts, this is for the moment the only means of searching. 
4. Conclusions 
Basing ourselves upon descriptions given by the data base suppliers and the re- 
sults of the investigation as reflected in the appendices, we may draw the fol- 
lowing conclusions. 
4.1 The NASA file covers literature on remote sensing and aerial photogrammetry. 
4.2 The PASCAL file covers in principle the whole range of photogrammetry 
and remote sensing; moreover also literature on geodesy and cartography. 
4.3 Geo Abstracts covers in principle the whole range of photogrammetry and 
remote sensing; moreover also literature on cartography. 
4.4 RESORS covers literature on remote sensing and aerial photogrammetry. 
4.5 The contents of the journals as mentioned in appendix 6 do not find exhaust- 
ive coverage, not even as concerns the subjects photogrammetry and remote 
sensing. 
4.6 Of the selected journal articles (appendix 7, fig. 1) Geo Abstracts shows 
the best coverage (70$). The highest possible recall which could be achieved 
ten Haken 2