Discusses databases available for online searching in the humanities fields and describes searches that investigated scatter (i.e., the spread of subject terms across the databases), overlap among online files in terms of retrieved records, and the comparative effectiveness of natural language versus controlled vocabulary for information…

Despite the growth in number of online bibliographic databases available to assist scholars seeking information in the humanities, it remains a matter of concern to librarians and information professionals that these research tools are not as widely used as they might be. This report surveys a selected group of online databases (i.e.,…

Describes a study that investigated subject retrieval in a group of humanities databases. Scatter by subject field and type of search term is discussed, the effectiveness of natural language and of controlled vocabulary are compared, and implications for system designers concerned with end-user searches in the humanities are suggested. (37…