A national information service in mining, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 72, No. 803, 1979

A. S. ROMANIUK, Physical Scientist, Coal Reserve Assessment, Mining Research Laboratories, CANMET, R. J. C. MacDONALD, Mineral Processing & Extractive Metallurgy Information Officer, Technology Information Division, CANMET, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada

More than a decade ago, CANMET management recognized the need to make better use of existing technological information in mining and extractive metallurgy—two fields basic to the economic well-being of Canada. There were at that time no indexes or files dedicated to disseminating technical information for the many minerals mined and processed in Canada, including coal. CANMET, with the nation's largest research and library resources in the minerals field, was in a unique position to fill this need.Initial efforts were concentrated on building a mining file, beginning with identification of world sources of published information, development of a special thesaurus of terms for language control and adoption of a manual indexing/retrieval system. By early 1973, this file held 8,300 references, with source, abstract and keywords given for each reference. In mid-1973, operations were computerized. Software for indexing and retrieval by batch mode was written by CANMET staff to utilize the hardware facilities of EMR 's Computer Science Centre. The resulting MINTEC file—one of the few files of technological information produced in Canada—is the basis for the national literature search service in mining offered by CANMET.Attention is now focussed on building a sister-file in extractive metallurgy using the system already developed. Published information sources have been identified and a thesaurus of terms is being compiled and tested.The software developed for CANMET's file-building operations has several features, including the selective dissemination of information and production from magnetic tape of photo-ready copy for publication, as in a bi-monthly abstracts journal.

Keywords: Information, Mining, Mineral processing, Extractive metallurgy, CANMET, Indexing, Retrieval, Data processing, Computers.