Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Disappearing Databases, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT, September 30, 2002, 19 databases disappeared without a trace from the Dialog online system. The reason? CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) and Dialog had failed to reach a renewal agreement. On October 1, Dialog searchers received a message "file does not exist" when they entered a CSA file number. A logon message listed the file numbers that were removed. (Admittedly, a notice was sent to subscribers, and a logon warning message ran for a couple of weeks prior to October 1.) This is just the latest case in a disturbing trend of disappearing databases.

Oldies But Goodies, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

COMMON WISDOM says that currency is what is valued in online databases. With the exception of genealogists and historians, it is assumed that readers don't want old materials. From the publisher's side, it just isn't cost effective to convert older bibliographic or full-text articles to digital form. For those who want older material, print--at least until recently--was thought to be the medium of choice.

This common wisdom is being proved not so wise, as readers are accessing both new and older information when it is available online, and publishers are rushing to digitize long runs of magazine and journal articles …

Online Serials Heat Up, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

SERIALS LIBRARIANSHIP is hot. It wasn't too long ago that library schools were eliminating serials management courses while libraries were merging serials departments into acquisitions and cataloging. Now, in the era of electronic journals and magazines, serials is the hottest topic in the library.

The Age Of Online Instruction, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Discussion of academic library instruction focuses on helping users learn online resources. Topics include science instruction; integrating short, subject-specific online instruction into the classroom; virtual tours; long-term approaches; integrating online modules into undergraduate courses; corporate librarians' efforts; and vendors' Web-based instruction modules. (LRW)

The Web: Searchable, Hidden, And Deceitful., Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

THE BLURRING OF LINES among special librarians and other information professionals makes the tracks that some conferences use seem artificial. After all, many librarians work as online experts, knowledge managers, and builders of electronic libraries--often all in one day. This became clear at the recent Information Today (IT) meetings in New York in May, which combined three previously separate shows: National Online, KnowledgeNets, and E-Libraries (see also InfoTech, LJ 6/15/02, p. 23). While there were plenty of redundancies, there were several useful sessions on web searching and electronic publishing.

Trends From The Industry Perspective, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

FOR THE ANNUAL Database Marketplace Survey (see LJ 5/15/02, p. 42ff.) company representatives were asked what major issues or trends will impact database availability and distribution in the next year. While budget woes are clearly the major issue for libraries and vendors alike, other trends are also expected to shape online information services.

The Database Marketplace 2002: The Database Universe, Carol Tenopir, Gayle Baker, William Robinson

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

After acquiring the UnCover document delivery service in 2000, Ingenta developed a new Library Gateway service for document delivery. Users search one of two databases. One contains online full-text articles from 5400+ titles. The other database, for traditional document delivery, has citations from 20,000+ periodical titles, with articles supplied by the British Library Document Supply Centre and the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information.

Sorting Through Online Systems, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Librarians often ask if there's a simple way to keep online systems straight in order to help users and conduct efficient searches. Although there is danger in oversimplifying the complexities and contrasts among the hundreds of online systems and databases to which libraries provide access, all but full-time online searchers should practice a simple coping mechanism. First recognize the similarities rather than the differences (today's commercial online services are more alike than not) and then focus on the few important differences that make each system stand out.

Ingenta Grows In The U.S. Market, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Ingenta-InfoTrac databasesInfoTrac OneFile Plus and Expanded Academic Plus-will be available this summer as InfoTrac Plus. In the meantime, InfoTrac Web provides links to Ingenta journal articles for current InfoTrac customers. When fully implemented, the system will provide integrated searching of the InfoTrac and Ingenta content through the InfoTrac Web interface.

Information Today Stands Alone, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

MORE THAN A DECADE ago I wrote about three family-owned publishers that served online information professionals (see "The Database Press," LJ 3/1/89, p. 56-57). Online Inc., Meckler-Media, and Learned Information Inc. each focused on the online community through conferences, journals, books, and other publications.

Now, just a decade later, only Information Today Inc. (the name of Learned Information Inc. since 1995) has stuck totally with the online information professional. In fact, Information Today (see www.infotoday.com) has purchased many of the information professional products from its former competitors, while Online Inc. and MecklerMedia have gone in other directions.

Online In London, At 25, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

IT'S BEEN SEVERAL years since I last attended the Online Information Meeting in London, so I was especially looking forward to the 25th-anniversary meeting this past December. Although some Americans chose to cancel, many Europeans attended. In 2000, about half of the attendees were librarians, and I suspect the proportion was similar this time.