The latest information and news on online databases for librarians from Library Journal.
Online Databases: Are E-Journals Good for Science? By Carol Tenopir - 11/01/2008
Most of us accept the notion that e-journals, through library subscriptions or open access, are good for science. They save readers time in tracking down articles and help them identify relevant materials from a wide range of journal titles. However, the academic world was buzzing this summer over a study by University of Chicago sociologist James Evans that challenged this notion.
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Online Databases: Science Info Without Borders By Carol Tenopir - 10/01/2008
Online resources are critical to the concept of “libraries without borders,” the theme of the 2008 World Library and Information Congress at the 74th International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) general conference, held in August in Québec City. Fee-based online information sources accessed through libraries are an important part of the library's rol...
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Online Databases: Dialog Finds a New Home By Carol Tenopir - 09/01/2008
The biggest industry news this summer was the announcement that ProQuest had acquired Dialog from Thomson Reuters. Dialog was beginning to look like an unwelcome stepchild as new strategies by Thomson Reuters were moving the firm away from traditional databases and library markets. ProQuest, by contrast, has a solid foundation in both areas and has been aggressively building with new acquisitio...
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Online Databases: The Past Catches Up By Carol Tenopir - 07/15/2008
If you were in library school anytime during the last 40 years, you are probably familiar with F.W. Lancaster and his books on indexing, online searching, or paperless information systems. I recently reread the first online searching textbook ever written, while preparing a Library Trends article (Spring/Summer 2008) in tribute to Lancaster.
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SERU: A Licensing Advance By Carol Tenopir - 06/01/2008
What if all publishers and librarians reached a mutual understanding about e-resources rather than constantly haggling over terms and conditions in contractual licenses? What if copyright law were the bottom line for e-journal rights, just as it is for print, instead of a long list of restricted responsibilities specified by complex arrangements? What if publishers and librarians could articula...
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Online Databases: Web Widgets Help Searchers By Carol Tenopir - 04/01/2008
Widgets are interactive, single-purpose applications for displaying and/or updating information. They can bring newsfeeds, weather forecasts, and more to a desktop or mobile web platform. Variants known as “web widgets” (or sometimes modules or badges), with fragments of code, have become popular, for example, in delivering data to social networking sites.
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Online Databases: A Global Information World By Carol Tenopir - 03/01/2008
If you ever doubted that we are a global information community that shares similar needs and concerns, a trip to the Online Information Meeting in London will convince you. The December 2007 session, the 32nd annual meeting, drew a standing room–only crowd from 101 countries; nearly every session included issues and viewpoints that crossed country boundaries.
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