Describes the training and support offered to users upon the implementation of a corporate online text retrieval system, and offers insights from the experience. Areas discussed include training programs and objectives, user support services and support personnel, user documentation, database building, and performance evaluation and measurement.…

This description of a study that monitored user selection of business and legal databases in EasyNet's multifile Scan option presents a ranked list of selected databases and discusses the effects of price, recommended database indicator, file record format, database name, and individual files on database selection. (Six references) (CLB)

These two articles discuss search strategies and the selection of databases. The first examines database selection when recommended database indicators are changed and database names are expanded in the EasyNet system; and the second discusses multifile searching versus single file searching in terms of success rates for novice users and cost…

Describes six leading numeric databank services and compares them with bibliographic databases in terms of customers' needs, search software, pricing arrangements, and the role of the search specialist. A listing of the locations of the numeric databanks discussed is provided. (CLB)

Predicts that online searching in the 1990s will be characterized by end users discovering faster and easier ways to access information. Predicted trends that are discussed include databases designed for end users, pricing innovations, increased use of CD-ROM products, improved computer graphics, and the expansion of database products into the…

This third article in a series describes a study that investigated database selection behavior of end-users of the EasyNet Scan feature in the areas of social sciences and arts and humanities. Databases are ranked in order of user selection, and variables that influence file selection are briefly discussed. (Three references) (LRW)

Describes a project that examined user selection of databases by monitoring the EasyNet Scan feature (a multifile search option) during 1989. The discussion covers the observed influence of price, database name, recommended database indicator, and record format on database selection. The category menus displayed by EasyNet are provided. (six…

This last article in a four-part series describes database selection behavior of end-users of the EasyNet Scan feature in the categories of people, news, and general reference. Databases are ranked in descending order of selection, the value of multifile search strategies is confirmed, and plans for further investigations are presented. (LRW)

The World Wide Web can provide direct market research data inexpensively or can target the appropriate professional online database and narrow the search. This article discusses the Web presence of research and investment firms, financial pages, trade associations, and electronic publications containing market research data. It lists Uniform…

Discussion of the use of CD-ROM databases for end-user searching versus online database searching in academic libraries focuses on a comparison of two databases, "Psychological Abstracts" and "Sociological Abstracts," that were searched in both formats. Factors of response time, coverage, content, and cost were investigated for…