Description of America: History and Life (AHL)--database including references from over 2,000 periodicals in literature, philosophy, religion, art, sociology, other disciplines of historical value--highlights structure; document treatment; access points; comparison of dissertation coverage between AHL and Comprehensive Dissertation Abstracts;…

Search terms and user aids are noted in review of databases covering historical material in the hard and social sciences--U.S. Political Science Documents, ERIC, Language and Language Behavior Abstracts, POPLINE and Population Bibliography, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Child Abuse and Neglect, GEOREF, International Pharmaceuticals Abstracts,…

Discusses the inclusion of citations to literary articles that have appeared in medical journals in National Library of Medicine's database, MEDLINE. Highlights include search aids, search strategies, sample references, and five publications that serve as orientations to current status of movement toward interdisciplinary study of medicine and…

Compares and evaluates the databases covering the literature of sports and recreation. Discusses information scatter in the discipline, exhaustivity of coverage within particular databases, and search strategies, vocabulary control, and database overlap. Included are nine data tables and four appendices illustrating search results. (JL)

Describes features of a new type of chemical database which provides the ability to search for substances sharing particular structural characteristics. Search concepts are examined in detail, and menu selection of "screens," system commands, and interpretation of results (which appear in the form of chemical bond structures) are…

Describes a study undertaken at the Mary Couts Library of Texas Christian University that determined whether subscription costs of Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index were greater than the cost of offering free computer searches of these indexes. User satisfaction was also measured. The evaluation form is included. (Author/JD)

Describes push technology as a new type of selective dissemination via the Internet and discusses filtering, channels of information, Web browser interfaces, data transfer, the role of databases, and database technology. A list of companies that provide push technology is included. (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…

Discusses the issues influencing the design, implementation, and promotion of the Towers Perrin in-house text retrieval system. The discussion of factors influencing system design includes the organizational culture, the existing computer and communications network, and the availability of text retrieval software. Suggestions for in-house systems…

Describes the kinds of online sources to use and processes involved in finding information on emerging markets and new industry trends. Highlights include relevance ranking in DIALOG searches; press releases; news sources; news alert services; market research reports; tracking research in progress; company information; and tracking subsidiaries.…

Discussion of quality control in online and CD-ROM databases focuses on the problem of data elements that are omitted from records. Completeness testing is discussed; search strategies are described; and a case study of Bowker's Video Directory, part of the Children's Reference Plus database, is presented. (eight references) (LRW)

Discusses databases available for online searching in the humanities fields and describes searches that investigated scatter (i.e., the spread of subject terms across the databases), overlap among online files in terms of retrieved records, and the comparative effectiveness of natural language versus controlled vocabulary for information…

Discusses online systems and databases that contain information on Japanese business and economic activity. A reference chart provides the name, address, coverage dates, and costs of major online sources. (CLB)

Briefly evaluates the use of the InfoTrac system by students at the Indiana University library for computer-assisted searching. The evaluation covers the reliability of the equipment and software; improvements in the system; user needs and satisfaction; and emerging competitive systems. (CLB)

This first article of a three-part series provides an overview of the record format, organization, and coverage of two databanks providing legal information. Tables cover record segments and fields and inclusion of information from federal libraries, state cases, United Kingdom and French law libraries, and additional libraries and services. (EJS)