Scholarly web-based application programming interfaces (APIs) allow users to interact with information and data programmatically. Interacting with information programmatically allows users to create advanced information query workflows and quickly access machine-readable data for downstream computations. With the growing availability of scholarly…

In their 1994 article, "The Politics of the Interface: Power and its Exercise in Electronic Contact Zones," compositionists Cynthia Selfe and Richard Selfe give examples of how certain features of word processing software and other programs used in writing classrooms (including their icons, clip art, interfaces, and file structures) can…

Creating a learnable, effective, and user-friendly library Web site hinges on providing easy access to search. Designing a search interface for academic libraries can be particularly challenging given the complexity and range of searchable library collections, such as bibliographic databases, electronic journals, and article search silos. Library…

The use of bibliographic management software and its internal search interfaces is now pervasive among researchers. This study compares the results between searches conducted in academic databases' search interfaces versus the EndNote search interface. The results show mixed search reliability, depending on the database and type of search…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of AJAX for searching the Biblioteche Oggi database of bibliographic records. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a demonstration of how bibliographic database single page interfaces allow the implementation of more user-friendly features for social and collaborative tasks. Findings:…

In April 2007, the University of Washington Libraries debuted WorldCat Local (WCL), a localized version of the WorldCat database that interoperates with a library's integrated library system and fulfillment services to provide a single-search interface for a library's physical and electronic content. This brief will describe how WCL incorporates a…

The development of the conceptual "Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records" (FRBR) Model enables records to be considered in terms of contextual relationships. Developments in software can capitalise on this to significantly improve the display of works through surfacing of these relationships. This paper reports on an investigation of…

Presents "Islands," an interactive graphical interface for construction, modification, and management of queries during a search session on a bibliographic database. Discusses motivation and bibliographic search semantics and compares the Islands interface to the Dialog interface. (Author/LRW)

Presents a user-oriented interface for generalized informetric analysis and demonstrates how informetric calculations can be specified through advanced data modeling techniques. Topics include bibliographic data; online information retrieval systems; citation networks; query interface; impact factors; data restructuring; and multi-level…

AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway--the world's first major FRBR implementation--was developed as a co-operative service involving eight universities and the National Library of Australia in 2000-2001. This paper traces the reasons for adopting the FRBR information model, implementation experiences, and user responses to the service. The paper…

Discussion of personal bibliographic systems (PBS) that manage the input, storage, retrieval, and output of bibliographic references focuses on low-cost mainstream bibliographic software for personal use or smaller libraries. Structural flexibility, indexes, printing and downloading, searching, and interface- and management-related issues are…

Discussion of information retrieval in the humanities focuses on a study of 10 graduate students at Indiana University as they conducted literature searches using databases on CD-ROM. Highlights include a review of related literature, search strategies, relevance assessments, human-computer interaction, and databases and indexing. (LRW)

Describes a study that observed undergraduates as they searched bibliographic databases on a CD-ROM local area network. Topics include related research, information needs, evolution of search topics, database selection, search strategies, relevance judgments, CD-ROM interfaces, and library instruction. (Author/LRW)

Compares the following World Wide Web-based periodical databases, focusing on their usefulness in K-12 school libraries: EBSCO, Electric Library, Facts on File, SIRS, Wilson, and UMI. Search interfaces, display options, help screens, printing, home access, copyright restrictions, database administration, and making a decision are discussed. A…

Electronic publishing has been an agent for change in not just how one publishes but in what one publishes. Describes HyperCite, a joint project with the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) to create INSPEC database. Highlights include the database; the research phase (cross database searching and new interface); and what and how much was…