Information Access Company Research Articles

Electronic Resources

Librarians choosing to offer periodicals via electronic resources encounter many factors which influence satisfaction with the project. The purpose of this paper is to bring to the reader's attention the frequently overlooked areas of accuracy of information, extent of coverage of a journal, and updating of the coverage. These primary concerns are given much less attention in the literature than are fees, licensing agreements, and equipment. The writer addresses the question: Exactly, what is online? A determination of which electronic resource meets collection development goals and objectives must include an evaluative analysis of online information. The starting point for such an analysis is to describe the level of quality required by local standards of excellence and that which will meet users' needs. The methodology in this study began with the development of a checklist itemizing typical journal contents and publication information. The list was marked as notes were made in a page-by-page comparison of current issues and recent volumes with a random sampling of titles online. Information Access Company's Business ASAP and Academic ASAP, EBSCO's Academic 1000 and UMI's ProQuest Direct® were studied. Numerous areas to examine in a local analysis are discussed. Librarians should be aware that full text coverage may mean selective items are covered in full text. The review of titles covered should include a look at the quality and appropriateness of the titles for the local library. Searching for the largest number of titles provided on an electronic resource may lead one away from collection development policies which are just as important for new formats as they are for paper formats.

Watch Out and Listen

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to critique management reports provided by electronic databases. This will be done by discussing three database reports, an electronic report prepared locally and a local faculty assessment. The latter was created to seek end-users' reactions. The database-produced reports are: OCLC's FirstSearch Usage Statistics Online, SilverPlatter's Electronic Reference Library software-generated reports and Information Access Company's SearchBank Usage Statistics. The fourth report was a record of the usage of only CD-ROM resources and was produced from the configuration of locally acquired software. Data from the fifth reporting method discussed, an assessment by faculty, is compared to that from the report-yielding features of the databases. Faculty in all disciplines offered at a regional university relied on their individual research experiences to provide information regarding the effectiveness of databases in filling the consumer's needs. While less than half of the faculty participated, questions designed to help assess research strategies, teaching methods and usefulness of specific databases provided much data. Analysis of the data collected electronically showed some remarkable similarities to faculty's self-reports of research and perceptions of students' research. Awareness of the electronic reports may increase the potential for faculty utilization of these resources in teaching and research. Contents of the electronic databases either parallel paper subscriptions or are additional titles supplying indexing, abstracting and full text of journals and newspapers. Data showing interest levels in utilizing 22 electronic resources and their weaknesses in filling needs indicate strengths of the five reports as tools to direct management. Usefulness of the electronic reports is fully supported by the faculty assessment.

Outsourcing in academic libraries: a selective bibliography

The current library outsourcing debate began in 1993 when Wright State University completely outsourced its cataloging operation. It reached a new high in 1995 when the Hawaii State Public Library System decided to outsource its selection, cataloging, and processing functions to Baker & Taylor, its online journals to Information Access Company, and its automation to Ameritech. A steady stream of articles and a handful of books, covering theoretical and ethical issues, as well as the practical aspects of outsourcing, have appeared in the last decade. This bibliography addresses the broad issues of outsourcing, especially in academic libraries. Outsourcing of public, special, and federal libraries is covered only tangentially. The list is divided into four sections: books on outsourcing in libraries; general articles on the history, theory, and impact of outsourcing on libraries and librarianship; opinion pieces; and articles that relate to individual libraries’ experiences with outsourcing.

InfoTrac's SearchBank Databases

Since early 1995, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) libraries have offered its user community a new and enhanced service through the InfoTrac SearchBank from Information Access Company (1AC). Available through the libraries' online catalog, this service offers useful features like remote access through the Internet, indexing and abstracting, fall-text access to 460 journal titles, as well as a powerful search engine. The service also provides access to a family of databases in areas such as, general reference, health, business and law information. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the business librarians and researchers with the business databases (General BusinessFile ASAP and Businesslndex Backfile) available through the InfoTrac SearchBank service.

Information access company: The evolution of InfoTrac multi-source databases and their importance to library end-users

Throughout the last twenty years, Information Access Company has partnered with libraries to develop a wide range of electronic databases for patron reference needs. The multi-source database, one which incorporates several different source types, has emerged as the premiere reference tool in assisting patrons with research projects from start to finish, from the general idea to precise detail. Information Access Company is organized into three separate divisions, serving library, corporate, and home users. This article will focus on Information Access Company’s multi-source databases for libraries, and includes coverage on the rationale behind development to production and usage in the library setting.

Business data on CD-ROM: the major publishers

Outlines the business databases produced by eight major producers-Bureau van Dijk, Chadwyck-Healey, DIALOG, Disclosure, Information Access Company, Moody’s, OneSource and SilverPlatter.

The health periodicals database: full-text access to consumer and technical health information.

The HEALTH PERIODICALS DATABASE, produced by the Information Access Company, is a unique online file which provides full-text access to both general interest health-related literature and key technical resources in the medical field. Available on DIALOG and CompuServe, the database is described as a useful tool for information on the health, fitness, and nutrition industries. Special features of the database are reviewed and comparisons are made with resources of similar scope.

News

BRS Five databases on BRS are now updated weekly: Medline, the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Search and Social SciSearch, and Information Access Company's Magazine ASAP III and Magazine Index. With this enhancement, subscribers to BRS's Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) can get updates more often. SDI lets users enter a specific search strategy in a particular database. Each time the database is updated any new references are automatically mailed to the subscriber.

Periodical Indexing Ondisc: A Comparative Analysis of InfoTrac Use in Three Illinois Libraries

Optical discs are having a significant impact on information retrieval in libraries. They provide access to bibliographic and numeric data in an efficient manner, retrieving information in seconds that would take a patron using a printed source much longer to find. InfoTrac, a periodical database produced by Information Access Company, is an example of an application of this technology. The forerunner of the company's General Periodicals Index, InfoTrac consists of a database stored on a laser‐optical videodisc and a microcomputer work‐station for accessing, displaying, and printing the contents of the database.

InfoTrac

A survey was conducted at Brigham Young University to determine the usage rate and level of user satisfaction for InfoTrac, an offline bibliographic database developed by Information Access Company. This article describes that survey, its methodology, and findings. The findings from the survey indicated that two InfoTrac computer terminals were in use 54.0% and 40.4% respectively of the time the library was open to patrons. Over 64% of the patrons using the system were in the junior/senior category; over 90% of the system's users indicated they were satisfied that InfoTrac met their research goals.

Making Tracs:

The Lega Information Center at the University of Florida's College of Law was the first institution in the country to take delivery of Information Access Company's INFOTRAC/LEGALTRAC system-general and legal bibliographic databases contained entirely on video disk. This article relates, in non-technical terms, the LIC's observations of the system in operation.

Infotrac and Africa

InfoTrac is an online periodicals index developed and marketed by the Information Access Company (IAC), of Belmont, California. It is very “user friendly” by design, and can provide for readers printouts of citations in a matter of a few seconds without the assistance of a librarian. The InfoTrac database itself consists primarily of citations from nearly 1000 journals which are also indexed by IAC its Business Index, Magazine Index, and Legal Resources Index retrospective to 1982. In addition material from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal as indexed in its National Newspaper Index for the previous two months will be found in InfoTrac. The data base is cumulated and updated monthly. In all accounts, both verbal and written, InfoTrac is enormously popular with readers. Much of this popularity, however, seems to focus on the technology of InfoTrac obscuring some important issues not the least of which are the accessibility of the journals indexed and the reliability and relevance of the information to which an unassisted reader is quickly lead.

Company profile — Information Access Company

Information Access Company was formed in 1976 and, at that time identified more than 400 publications as sources for information covering many general interest subjects. To provide a timely and continuously‐updated reference aid which would make the contents of these publications accessible shortly after each issue was published, IAC created Magazine Index as an online database and made it accessible by computer via Dialog Information Services. The initial index data‐base contained approximately 360 publications, and additional titles and retrospective material have been added until today more than 400 magazines with coverage back twenty years are contained in Magazine Index. This database quickly became and continues to be one of the most widely‐used files among the more than 200 offered on Dialog.

Alaska Newspaper Index: Microcomputers and Information Access Company

No one working at a library reference desk needs to be convinced of the importance of indexes to local newspapers. With the tremendous interest in genealogy and local history, both public and academic librarians are inundated with questions easily answered if a local newspaper index is available.