Retrieval of Misspelled Names in an Airlines Passenger Record System
This paper discusses the limited problem of
recognition and retrieval of a given misspelled 
name from among a roster of several hundred names, such
as the reservation inventory for a given flight 
of a large jet airliner.  A program has been developed
and operated on the Telefile (a stored-program 
core and drum memory solid-state computer) which will
retrieve passengers' records successfully, despite 
significant misspellings either at original entry time
or at retrieval time.  The procedure involves 
an automatic scoring technique which matches the names
in a condensed form. Only those few names most 
closely resembling the requested name, with their phone
numbers annexed, are presented for the agents 
final manual selecton.  The program has successfully
isolated and retrieved names which were subjected 
to a number of unusual (as well as usual) misspellings.
CACM March, 1962
Davidson, L.
