A SCI-MAP CASE-STUDY - BUILDING A MAP OF AIDS RESEARCH

SCI-Map is a new PC based system for mapping the scientific literature. By selecting a seed item, the user can build a network or cluster of nodes interactively, and can view the structure as it is being built. New nodes are selected for addition to the network by the strength of their links to the items already clustered, and the positions of new nodes are determined by a geometric triangulation method. SCI-Map can be used to perform cluster-based retrieval using co-citation or other measures of document association, and enables the user to explore the structure of large document sets. This case study focuses on the AIDS literature and shows how the network is built up topic by topic, the recall of the final cluster, and where AIDS connects to the literature of other fields.