Review of "Report of the Information Retrieval Systems of 3 European Data Archives, by Dagobert Soergel", Zentralarchive fur empirische Socialforschung, 1969

This report is composed of four sections:-1) a description scheme for documentation centers and 2) descriptions of information retrieval systems at three European data archives-a)SSI~C One of the more interesting aspects of the "description scheme" presented in the report is that it can also be used, as the author points out, as a "checklist" of areas to be covered in setting up a data archive-a "prescriptive scheme", as Soergel calls it. The functiQns detailed in this part of the report are not confined to information retrieval. A partial listing of the general table of contents gives an idea of the nature and range of topics considered: .Organization of the documentation center (Institutional structure, personnel, purpose, hardware and software used) .Collection and acquisition procedures (What is gathered and how) • Users of the doctunentation center .Information storage and retrieval (Classification and keying of information and pointers to information) .Training and consultant functions .Research functions .Cooperation with other institutions For information concerning the three data archives described, the interested reader should consult the report directly, as the range and detail of the contents preclude effective summary in this space. Further, the individual reader's intentions will dictate what topics, and in what degree of detail, will be relevant. The archiving institutes covered are affiliated with the Universities of Essex, Cologne, and Amsterdam, respectively, and all rely on the computational facilities of these "parent" institutions. Copies of the report may be obtained from: