Annals of Ubrary Science and Documentation 1990,37(4), 143-149

SDI SERVICE ON PATENTS - A CASE STUDYOF USING ONLINE SYSTEMS

D VPATWARDHANJr. Officer A (R&D)Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd.,Bangalore-560055

Briefly explains the value of patents inindustrial environment. Highlights theadvantages of using Online System i.e.,DIALOG for offering efficient SDI Service onpatents. Describes systematically the proceduresinvolved in initiating such a service. Gives costparticulars and concludes that the success ofSDI service depends on proper user-systeminteraction.

INTRODUCTION

Patents are the vital source of information inindustrial world. They are the first documentin which a technological innovation isreported in detail, and hence indispensablesources of information for engineers andresearch workers. The use of patentinformation helps to avoid costly andunnecessary duplication of developmentefforts. Therefore, SDI service for patentinformation is offered to thereaders/researchers in Kirloskar Electric Co.Ltd.(KEC) on regular basis from January1984.

SDI SERVICE ON PATENTS

'World Patent Index' (WPI) database ofDerwent publications, UK, is an ideal sourceof information for providing SDI Service onpatent information. Initially 'WPI Gazette', aweekly publication of Derwent, UK, wasconsulted as a source of information. After theintroduction of 'World Patent Index' databasein the DIALOG Information System,California, USA, in January 1985, a new era ofprompt and highly sophisticated SDI serviceto the readers has started.

Vol 3TNo 4 December 1990

Online system for SDI service has followingfeatures:

Construction of profile and itsmodification on the basis of the resultsobtained at various stages of search.

Facility of multipoint access to datathrough inventor, patent assignee, title,abstract, international classificationnumber, etc.

Possibility of complex searches involvinglarge number of terms.

Facility for revising the profiles.

Use of simple command language.

User friendliness.

Saving in user's time.

KEC started building the SDI profile withDIALOG in July 1985 with 'World PatentIndex' as the source database. Initially theprofile covered only 7 research topics whichwere later extented to 9.

PROCEDURE

The operation of SDI service involvesfollowing steps:

Profile construction.

Entering of SDI profile in DIALOG.

Circulation of SDI notifications andanalysis of feedback.

Revision of search profile whenevernecessary.

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PATWARDHAN

The construction of profile is an importantstep. Ideally there should be one profile foreach research topic. But for the reasons ofeconomy a group profile was designed for thereaders having common interest. For profileconstruction, following steps are followed.

Search Request: A standard proforma(Appendix-A) was designed to receive searchrequests from readers. Some of the readersdesired to get retrospective information alsoon the topics noted for SDI service. Acommon form is used for both the purposes.Forms are filled by the readers with the help ofthe library staff.

Search Aids: Most of the online systems andindividual databases provide search aids tohelp users in systematic construction ofprofiles and carry out search operations. Someof the important search aids required forpatent SDI service are listed below:

Guide to DIALOG Searching (GDS): Aloose-leaf binder containing databasechapters and a few examples of conductedsearches.

Chronolcg: A monthly newsletter ofDIALOG which notifies additions/dele-tions, cost variations and search facilitiesin various databases.

International Patent Classification (lPC),4th edition, 1985.

Derwent Patents Manual - General(1985): Instruction manual1A

Company Code Manual (1985) (Derwent)in two parts comprising 13,700 standardcompanies and their codes.

It is essential to keep up-to-date search aids byincorporating the revisions, additions anddeletions etc. regularly.Search Topic Analysis: The topics suggested byreaders for SDI service are analysed intoconcepts. Ail possible synonyms and spellingvariations are checked and listed.Example: Sinusoidal pulse width modulatedvariable frequency inverter fed induction"motor drives.Concept A

INVERTER

144

INVERTERSINVERTORINVERTORS

Concept B

PULSE WIDTH MODULATIONPULSE WIDTH MDULATEPULSE WIDTH MODULATEDPULSE WIDTH MODULATINGPWM

ConceptC

SINUSOIDALVARIABLE FREQUENCYVARYING FREQUENCY

Concept D

ACMOTOR/SINDUCTION MOTOR/SMOTOR DRIVEjSASYNCHRONOUS MOTORIS

Relevent dictionaries, thesauri and at leastone or two sample patents on each SDI topicin question are studied to derive all possibleconcepts or key terms. A Similar analysis iscarried out with respect to rest of the SDItopics.

Search Strategy Formulation: In this step theconcepts or key terms are combined using logi-cal operators /\ND', 'OR', 'NOT' into a searchstatement [2] Some of the words are truncatedto reduce the length of the search statementand increase the recall. A search strategy forthe example stated above, is demonstrated asfollows:

INVERT?R? AND (PULSE(W)WID-TH(W)MODULAT? OR PWM) AND(SINUSOIDAL OR VAR?(W) FREQUEN?AND (MOTOR? OR DRIVE?)

A decision has to be taken to present theconcepts in standard terms accurately. As thesearch process is heuristic in nature it is usualpractice to prepare a 'first try' searchstatement and improve the out put insubsequent steps. Provision of few additionalsteps is also kept to broaden or narrow downthe search output.

Ann Ub Sci Doc

SOl SERVICE ON PATENTS USING ONLINE SYSTEMS

TERMINAL OPERATIONS

The searcher has to get ready with thehomework of quick interaction with theterminal. The telex is used as thecommunication media for conducting onlinesearch. At first the telex call is made toGateway Centre in New York on Low SpeedData Service (LSDS) line through MadrasInternational Telex Exchange [1). Aftergetting 'GX (Go Ahead) response from thesystem, name of one of the Americannetworks such as, TYMNET, TELENET ORDIALNET is entered to access DIALOG.Online systems recognise their users only bythe secret passwords assigned to them. Hence,the password has to be entered correctlybefore opening any file for searching. Onceonline with DIALOG, the required file isopened and searched. In the present case the'World Patent Index' CURRENT FILE No.351 (1981 to present) is opened and searched.Since there is a common concept 'Inverter' inall the SDI topics, the records containing thesame are first sorted out. The operations heldat this stage are reproduced as follows:

? S INVEl;tT?R?

SI 12263 INVERT?R?

? S SI NOT (IC=H03? OR IC=H04)

S2 9272 SI NOT (IC=H03?OR IC=H04?)

? S S2 AND IC=H02M?

S3 3271 S2 AND IC = H02M?

In step 2, records relating to following subjectsare eliminated using the logical operator'NOT' in conjunction with the Step l.

Subjects CorrespondingIPC NumbersICS H03-Electronic circuitry,

TelecommunicationEngineering H04

As the output in step 3 is too small for gettingweekly SDI notifications, step 2 is considerdthe base for further combinations.

Vol 37"No 4 December 1990

The search operations held for first topic aregiven below.

?S PULSE(W)WIDTH(W)MODULAT?ORPWM

S4 2152 PULSE(W)WIDTH(W}MOD-ULAT?ORPWM

?S S4 AND (MOTOR? OR 'DRIVE?)

S5 716 S4 AND (MOTOR? OR DRIVE?)

?S S5 AND (SINUSOIDAL OR VAR?-(W)FREQUENC?)

S618 S5 AND (SINUSOIDAL OR VAR?-(W)FREQUENC?)

?S S5/DE

S7 118 S5/DE

?C 2 AND 7

S8 342 AND 7

For convenience it is usual practice to start thesearch with full text terms and limit the outputby classification numbers, descriptors, etc. at alater stage. The descriptor combination ismade in step 5 but it is learnt that the outputis too small. Similarly step 6 too has led to verylow output. Hence, steps 6, 7 and 8 are ignoredand search process continued.

?C 2AND5S9 210 2 AND 5

The remaining 6 topics were searched onsimilar lines and finally a set number 50 isarrived at. The same is used for storing thesearch strategy with DIALOG for SDI service.

Example:

?PR 50/5/1-50PROI5;PRINT 50/5(ITEMS 1-50) EST.COST OF DLRS.25.00?SAVESDISDI "PBOOl" STOREDLOGOFF

The flow chart indicating various stepsinvolved in a search is given in Appendix-B.The use of commands such as "EXPAND" areavoided as they take too much of telex timeand come out to be very expensive.

145

The printed version of thesaurus is usedinstead of the online one (or economicalreasons.

REVISION OF PROFILE

Weekly notifications of the SOl profile werecirculated to the end users with a request tocross mark(x) the patent titles which areirrelevent to any of the SOl topics. Thefeed-backs from users were analysed duringthe first four weeks of the profile construction.The profile was revised accordingly during the5th week. Some of the sections of the profileare revised to reduce the retrieval noise. Thecombination of 'NOT' operator was used toeliminate the topics which were the root causeof the retrieval noise.

RECALL AND PRECISION

The use of non-standard terms initially led toretrieval of highly specific documents. But thiscaused poor recall and low precision. Hence, asuitable combination of IPC numbers,descriptors and non-standard terms wasworked out at the time of revision of profilewhich subsequently raised the SOl outputsfrom 60% to 80%. The recall and precision areinversely proportional to each other [3] and,therefore, it is difficult to reach an ideal stage.The users of SDI profile are entitled to receivea minimum of 25 references per week. Hence,the recall was adjusted to be around 25ref/week for the reasons of economy.

COST

The cost of SOl service depends on followingfactors.

Telex time

Computer time

Number of records printed

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PATWARDHAN

The cost of telex time and computer time areinvolved only at the time of profileconstruction and its revision. A minimum ofUSS 6.25 are charged for first 25 referencesand USSO.5 for each subsequent reference.The customers are billed by DIALOG once amonth. A detailed cost analysis is presented inAppendix C.

CONCLUSION

It was found that SOl service based on onlinedatabases is far superior to the one offered bymanual methods.

The quality of output depends on properunderstanding of users' requirements andtranslation of the same into suitable profiles.It was also found to be more economical tohave a group profile for several readers havingresearch interests common to each other.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author is thankful to the management ofMIS Kirloskar Electric Co. Ltd., Bangalore forits kind permission to submit this paper forpublication and to Mr. H.S. Nagaraj, Manager(R & D) for his valuable suggestions infinalising it.

REFERENCES

/1. Haravu L J and Nagaraja Rao K : TelexAccess to DIALOG some experiences.IASLIC Bulletin 1978,27(14), 181-190.

2. Henry W M, et al: Online searching: AnIntroduction. London, Bulletinworths1980, pSO

3. Lancaster F W : Information RetrievalSystem. New York, Wiley-Interscience,1979.

Ann Ub Sci Doc

SDI SERVICE ON PATENTS USING ONLINE SYSTEMS

APPENDIX-AKIRLOSKAR ELECl'RIC COMPANY LIMITED

BANGALORE - 5'0 055

From:Ref

Sub: BIBYOGRAPHICAL SERVICES

1. Title or tbe Topic2. Suggested Keywords/Classification Nos. :3. Types of Documents required:

4. Whetber abstracts are required?S. Search Period :6. Searcb by any specific Author:7. Country Coverage:

8. Ally limitation on number of references?9. Suggested Databases :

To Library (RAD/S)Date:

Books c::J Reports c:::::JMonographs c::J Translation c:::::JArticles c:J Thesis c::JConference ProductPapers [:=:J Catalogues c::JPatents c::J Standards c::J

Other, if any [:=:JYes [:=J No

India c::J France c::::JUK c::J Japan c:::::JUSA [:=:J USSR c:J

W. Germany c::J Other, ifanyc:J

INSPEC c:J DERWENTc::J

COMPENDEX c=:J WIPO c::J

NTIS c:::J Other, ifanyc::J

10. Do you already bave any reference on the said topic?11. Date, by which tbe information is required? 12.

Signature of tbe Indentor: _

Na~ _

KEC Project title and expected benefits:

Head of the Department _

--- .•.._------------------------------FOR USE INTIlE LmRARY

1.2.

Work to be assigned to:Date of completion of work;

Vol 31 No 4 December 1990

LIBRARIAN

147

PAlWARDHAN

SEARCH OPERATION FLOW CHARTAPPENDIX·B

LOGON

ENDEXAMINERESULTS

EXAMINETIlE

POSTINGS

148

EXAMINESAMPLE

REFERENCES

SAVESOl

LOGOFF

Ann Lib Sci Doc

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APPENDIX-CCost Detail of 501 Service for One Year

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3969.31 mo:z'lJ

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Particulars TelexTimeCost

TotalPrint

Total(in Rs)

ComputerTimeUsed

PrintCost

Cost!Min

TelexTime

TelexCost!Min

ComputerTimeCost

Profile Construction(25.7-85)

72.57min $1.92 77.57 Rs.28/- Rs.2171.96(Rs.1197.35)

Profile Reservation(24-8-85)

Rs.28/- Rs.1316.00 2430.5645 min. (Rs.1114.56) 47 min.1.92

Initial 32SOl Notification(25-7-85 to 14-2-86)

$200.00$6.25

Subsequent 9 SOloutput (7-3-86 to2-7-86

$6.25 S118.75

Grand Total Rs. 10,530.52

SO I cost per one Topic = 10630n = Rs. 1518/- Corone year

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