Search results

The online search activities described here were conducted to provide environmental scientists with literature to use in their review of pesticide chemicals for regulatory decisions. The first criterion for this data gathering process was to have complete coverage to approach 100% recall of the papers published on the pesticide in question. As new databases were developed and current ones were updated, the number of searchable files multiplied. Running large profiles against each data‐base now resulted in, increased online costs, (connect‐time/print charges), greater overlap and duplication and, inundating the reviewer with thousands of citations. Thus it became apparent that the effectiveness of searching this multitude of applicable databases must be evaluated. Where is the overlap? Which data‐bases contain unique citations? How can the number of databases be decreased without minimizing the percentage of coverage?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the sizes of databases.

The paper illustrates the various dimensions of some library and information science (LIS) databases and database subsets, and the implications of these differences.

Enhancements of database records by cited references have great potential for guiding the searcher to cited and cited references.

Illustrates the various dimensions of some LIS databases and database subsets, and the implications of these differences.

This paper seeks to focus on identifying the searching behaviours of users, their difficulties as well as their expectations from library supports while using online databases at the Central Library of Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City.

Usage reports of six online databases subscribed by the Central Library were analyzed, a survey by emailing users a questionnaire and four deep interviews were conducted.

The amount of usage increases yearly, however it is still low in comparison with the number of subscribers who have registered for using online databases. Users did search for their research and study rather than for their teaching or professional knowledge update. Often they looked for journal articles and theses rather than e‐books. Key words and titles were used the most when searching. Reading the guidance from the library websites or from the databases was most used. This suggested that most users did not know how to use the databases and preferred to learn by themselves. Email was preferred by users to communicate with library staff. English language and database searching skills were the biggest barriers preventing users from employing online databases.

This paper provides an understanding of users' behaviours and suggests that it is necessary to assist users in using online databases in Vietnam universities. Up to now, these issues have not been known. They are relevant to improving the utilization of online databases.

The emergence of online databases represents a shift from providing a physical entity, a book or an article, to the more abstract concept of providing or transferring information. The role of the database developer/analyst in that shift is that of an information retrieval ‘cataloger’ responsible for determining the access points supported by the database's contents, much as a traditional library cataloger defines, describes, and classifies the intellectual content of a book and ‘maps’ it into the library's card catalog. This is only one of the several parallels between the functions of an information retrieval service and a traditional library. For example, users ‘check‐out’ information from both, but while a circulation staff shifts the collection to accommodate growth, a retrieval service updates databases and allocates additional disk space to allow for expansion. Describing the tasks required in developing a database for online searching is the purpose of this paper. The requisite tasks for database development are: analysis, design, conversion, testing, loading, and documentation. Analysis involves a determination of file format (fixed, stream, directory) across all years of the file. Design requires understanding file content, the needs of end user, and retrieval system standards and features. Conversion is accomplished by file generation programs that convert input data into the searchable and printable fields of an online database. Testing consists of debugging the conversion program and adjusting the original design to accommodate aberrant data conditions. Loading is the creation, by the file generation programs, of disk files to be accessed by the retrieval system. Documentation is the transfer of experience and knowledge about file content and system feature from file designer to file user. The task of designing databases for an online information retrieval service requires more than data processing expertise. It also requires an intellectual understanding of the information‐seeking behavior and needs of the users of the database in general, and users in the subject area in particular. Information professionals from outside the purely EDP area are requisite to support the technical analysis, design, and development of databases for online searching. For it is upon their broad‐based understanding, translated technically into access points, database and system features that any information retrieval service bases its successful operation. Database development, then, is the hub of the wheel in such a service, much as descriptive cataloging and subject classification are the intellectual underpinning of libraries, upon which all other services are based.

A technique for providing a selective dissemination of information service and a printed current awareness bulletin using modestly priced equipment and software was investigated. It is shown that by using a cheap IBM AT clone, a standard relational database package (Paradox) and a word processor package (WordStar), this can be achieved. A useful in‐house database is created at the same time which can be used for retrospective searching of library stock. Techniques of multirelational searching are described, and a method of multi‐database data entry is outlined. Selection criteria for hardware and software are discussed as are other applications of the equipment.

A dynamic approach to making legacy databases, like CDS/ISIS, interoperable with OAI‐compliant digital libraries (DLs).

There are many bibliographic databases that are being maintained using legacy database systems. CDS/ISIS is one such legacy database system. It was designed and developed specifically for handling textual data. Over the years, many databases have been developed using this package. There is, however, no mechanism supported by the package for seamless interoperability of databases. The open archives initiative (OAI) addresses the issue of interoperability by using a framework to facilitate the discovery of content stored in distributed archives or bibliographic databases through the use of the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI‐PMH). The protocol is becoming a de facto standard for interoperability of DLs. Many of the legacy database systems that are in use today, to the best of our knowledge, for various reasons, are not OAI‐compliant. This makes it difficult for the legacy databases to share their metadata automatically. There are two possible approaches to make legacy databases OAI‐compliant – static and dynamic. In this paper, we discuss the dynamic approach to make CDS/ISIS databases OAI‐compliant.

The dynamic approach is a simple way to make legacy databases OAI‐compliant so that they become interoperable with other OAI‐compliant DLs.

Developing a general‐purpose tool to make legacy databases OAI‐compliant may be difficult as the driver software needed for database connectivity may not be easily available. Also, the structure of the databases are likely be so varied that identifying the fields that make up the databases programmatically will be very challenging.

Provides a dynamic approach to making legacy databases interoperable with OAI‐compliant libraries.

This article describes the fastest growing category of machine‐readable data‐bases — full‐text databases. A selection of articles from the literature on full‐text databases was explored and this provides a basis for the information presented here on search strategy, performance measurement, and benefits and limitations of full‐text databases. Various use studies and uses of full‐text databases have also been listed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the databases from a certain library are Pareto-compliant or not? If so, to what extent is the Pareto principle performance evident among these databases? The other purpose is to determine the differences in Pareto principle performance according to time change and database type.

Data on full-text downloads from six e-resources – Elsevier ScienceDirect (SD), Wiley Blackwell, Springer Journal, EBSCO Business Source Premier (BSP), American Chemical Society and American Institute of Physics (AIP) – for the period 2007-2013 were analysed; 42 samples were collected from these databases. The proportion of frequently downloaded journals from databases was selected as an indicator to determine differences in Pareto principle performance according to time change. The difference between the proportion of frequently downloaded journals and the classic proportion of 20 per cent was used as indicator to determine difference in Pareto principle performance related to database type.

There are 33 samples (78.57 per cent) which exhibited the Pareto principle. Four databases – Elsevier SD, Wiley Blackwell, EBSCO BSP and AIP – constantly exhibited the Pareto principle. The differences were not significant according to time change. The two multi-discipline databases – Elsevier SD and Wiley Blackwell – fluctuated more moderately than the two single-discipline databases – EBSCO BSP and AIP. Multi-discipline and single-discipline databases showed some differences in Pareto principle performance; however, these differences were not remarkable.

The Pareto principle confirmed that there were frequent and infrequent downloads of e-journals from e-journal databases. It was of great importance to analyse these to improve digital resources acquisition and user service.

Since the introduction of CD‐ROM databases for libraries, books and articles have been written and conferences held to both define the technology and explore uses of the new format in libraries. Nancy Melin Nelson has defined two types of CD‐ROM products for the library market. The first is designed as a support tool for automation activities, such as cataloging and public access systems. The Library Corporation's BiblioFile and Intelligent Catalog products are examples. The other type, and the one on which this article will focus, provides unlimited access to databases previously produced in an online and/or paper format (i.e., reference databases). Librarians have been relatively quick to accept CD‐ROM as a viable alternative or companion to their online databases. CD‐ROM technology has even afforded some libraries their first encounter with automated reference databases. Experience has taught us, however, that incorporating CD‐ROM reference systems is not as simple as many vendors would have librarians believe. Planning for the new technology is vital. This article will examine four areas of planning that should be addressed before a well‐informed decision to purchase can be made: hardware, database(s), search and retrieval software, and user education.

This paper discusses two surveys conducted in 1986 and 1988 which examined attitudes of producers of Australian research‐based databases towards marketing, and the practices they employed to promote their database products. Attitudes and practice were found to be poor in 1986 with few database projects commanding budgets adequate for even the most basic of promotional activities. By 1988, improvement in attitudes towards marketing was evident, particularly from management. Satisfaction with assistance in marketing from vendors was significantly improved. However, on overall marketing performance, there is still much room for improvement and expansion in marketing to non‐library audiences and to non‐user groups. These two surveys provide benchmarks against which database marketing activity and attitudes can be measured in succeeding years.