Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Whole Lotta Movin’ Goin’ On, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

WHEN I LIVED IN California, the hot, dry days of September and October were always referred to as "earthquake weather." Although the term may not be accurate geologically, shaking and moving was the autumnal activity of some of the major California-based information companies. The parent companies of both Dialog and Information Access Company (IAC) announced in September that they would be moving corporate headquarters out of California (see InfoTech, U 10/15/98, p. 25-26). What will it mean for us, their customers?

Proving Your Point With Word Searches, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Online search services may be used to trace word usage which in turn may be used to determine the growth of an industry or to help in budgetary planning. Dialog and Lexis-Nexis are effective online services for use in analyzing word usage.

Online Meetings Of Minds, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

The two big online conferences in the US are the National Online Meeting (NOM) and Online World. Tenopir discusses highlights of the 1998 NOM and offers information on the upcoming Online World conference.

Pricing Options, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Tenopir discusses database pricing issues in libraries. Pricing for digital products has been found to be much more complex than print pricing. The options that most libraries use fall into the categories of pay-as-you-go pricing, fixed-pricing, and user-based licensing.

Furor Over Prices, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Tenopir discusses online databases and the major shift in pricing policies that just occurred at the DIALOG corporation. Right now is really not the best time for vendors to start increasing prices.

Expert Views Of The Future, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

While no one knows for sure what the future holds for libraries or the online industry, experts have their opinions. Tenopir buttonholed 17 of them for their views of coming changes in information science and delivery.

Reference Use Statistics, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Tenopir recently surveyed academic reference librarians to find out about their use of electronic reference sources and how things have changed in the last few years. She discusses the results of her survey.

Linking To Full Texts, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

IT HAS BECOME routine for librarians to help a patron compile a comprehensive customized bibliography from online or CD-ROM indexes. In fact, patrons no longer consider it sufficient to compile a list of resources. Although searching indexes and abstracts was never the end of the information seeking process, in the print world an index search was so tedious that users focused energy on the search process. Interlibrary loan could suffice for articles the library didn't hold. Now, as library users become familiar with the convenience of online searching and their expectations rise, they expect instantaneous access to full articles.

To …

Plagued By Our Own Successes, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Reference librarians are required to provide more patron support in the last few years because of increased electronic reference sources and services. The overwhelming array of options may lead to 'technostress', which some librarians view as counterproductive, while others see it as exciting.

Will Online Vendors Survive?, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Online systems such as IAC, DIALOG, LEXIS/NEXIS and others are refocusing their market strategies following major corporation changes in the last year. Critical mass in the number of services, assets, customer size are necessary to compete in the changing, global information world.