E-Views and Reviews: A Whole New World

By Cheryl LaGuardia -- Library Journal, 4/15/2006

WHO, WHAT, WHERE A reader wrote in asking about “the source(s) of [the] large country datasets” from my review of Euromonitor International (LJ 3/1/06). Marketing manager Rose Gilliver responded: “Primarily, we go to national statistics offices, central banks, government departments and ministries, and sources such as World Bank. We also monitor newspapers and journals for anecdotal evidence.”

TO YOUR HEALTH Given the heightened interest in health these days, Kendell/Hunt Publishers' newly developed Nutri-Wellness Plus CD-ROM is a product all librarians should know about. For more, go to www.kendallhunt.com.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “[The] recently... redesigned interface for LexisNexis® Congressional [allows] users [to] search across databases to find, for example, references to Ronald Reagan when he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee [and] documents from the serial set dating from when he was governor of California...[in one search]. When you are searching through large volumes of information, the importance of indexing becomes all the more valuable. If terms aren't used consistently, users don't know if they've retrieved everything on the topic. [Our] editors have harmonized the indexing across the databases so that users can retrieve all of the material on Ronald Reagan in one search. You can't get this anywhere else. I would have wanted this when I was working the reference desk!”—Andrea Sevetson, Information Professional Consultant, LexisNexis

Praeger Security International Online
Greenwood; www.praeger.com/psi

A file of over 500 books, 1000 primary documents, monthly scholarly commentaries, articles, a chronology, and an annotated bibliography, Praeger Security International Online (PSIO) is a one-stop source for information on terrorism and security, covering regional security, humanitarian and peace operations, weapons of mass destruction, armed forces, intelligence, military history, defense and national security, and military affairs. It operates in tandem with the PSI print publishing program and Greenwood's related reference titles and monographs.

How Does It Work? PSIO has a businesslike, somber look to it, with military khaki the predominant color. Across the top of the screen are arrayed buttons for Home, Advanced Search, Subject Browse, Titles Library, Chronology, Regional Analysis, Commentary, Documents, Bibliography, CIA World Fact Book, and Help. At screen left is a dynamically changing area that contains context-sensitive search possibilities; to the right of this appear file contents and more in-depth search options.

Can You and Your patrons Use It? A first Quick Search for “pandemic” found 18 results, all books. Scanning the list, I realized the search needed to be more focused since I was looking in full text. On the second try, this time for “pandemics and terrorism,” two items appeared and were just what I was interested in.

A Quick Search for “ports” found 740 documents—too many. A Subject Browse for “ports” brought no matches. A Subject Browse for “seaports”—still nothing. While a subject match for “airports” was successful, it seemed odd not to find “ports” among the subjects here, especially because when “port security” was Googled, it immediately linked to the U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Directorate site.

In the Titles Library, a search for Anthony Cordesman's newly published book The Israeli-Palestinian War couldn't find it. In fact, I couldn't find any material dated after 2004. Then, when Lawrence Grinter and Peter Dunn's The American War in Vietnam was pulled up, no copyright or publication dates were given. According to Amazon, the book was published in 1987. Not necessarily a bad thing but important to note, given how much has changed since then.

The Chronology feature is terrific. You can specify a date range and link it to a location and/or keywords. I searched a number of subjects out of recent newspaper headlines and found a treasure trove of material that scared the bejesus out of me. At this time, there are only four regional analyses and four commentaries in the file, but that will grow. Although Greenwood claims there are 1000 documents in the file, only 468 were located. Presumably, this section will increase, too.

How Good Is It? PSIO covers an area of vital interest, and researchers are clamoring for more material on this subject. That said, in its present implementation, the file gets an 8. The concept and structure are sound, but there needs to be more recent material included for it to be truly useful. Indexing and searching glitches need attention as well.

What's the Cost? Price ranges from $2500 to $9500 for single-site academic, public, or school libraries, depending upon population/enrollment. Contact Greenwood for multiple-site pricing or for pricing for special libraries.

The Bottom Line Praeger Security International Online is recommended for comprehensive collections serving serious scholars in politics and government. This is one file I'll take a look at again after it's had time to mature.