The National Center for Biotechnology Information Entrez Direct (EDirect) software facilitates programmatic access to numerous biomedical, chemical, and literature databases from within a Unix terminal. EDirect has traditionally been used for command line access to NCBI data within the fields of computational biology and bioinformatics. This…

Critical thinking and analytical problem-solving skills in research involves using different search strategies. A proposed concept for an "Imploded Boolean Search" combines three unique identifiable field types to perform a search: keyword(s), numerical value(s), and a chemical structure or reaction. The object of this type of search is…

The workshop had its genesis in the belief that interactive bibliographic data base searching will become an essential function of reference service and that there is a need for indepth training and more communication with suppliers--the on-line system supplier and the data base supplier. The workshop included presentations by data base suppliers,…

Describes workshops based on active learning that were developed collaboratively between a librarian and an economics faculty member to teach students how to locate appropriate academic sources on the World Wide Web and in library databases, how to create effective search strategies, and how to use retrieval features in InfoTrac. (LRW)

A review of statistics on CD-ROM usage on the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's library network revealed patron difficulty in utilizing electronic indexes. Appropriate database selection and searching problems are identified, and introductory workshops on electronic library resources are suggested to assist students in making better…

Discusses factors to consider in identifying and accessing appropriate data sources for environmental chemical information and describes three training programs for end-users: (1) a course on retrieval of information on dangerous substances; (2) a seminar on German offline databases on chemicals; and (3) a workshop on the Information System for…

A program was designed at the Central Queensland University (Australia) Library to teach on- and off-campus students how to access and explore databases, to encourage skill development through learning exercises, and to facilitate peer interaction and discussion of search strategies and techniques. Student evaluation indicated that the program…