Libraries are not so unlike market giants Netflix, Amazon, and Pandora. Despite their significantly different business models and missions, they share an interest in facilitating the search for information, including what to read, view, and listen to next. Librarians, too, want their patrons to be able to use their tools to make connections among…

Computers may not be able to master poetics like Aristotle, but they have become smart enough to know a metaphor when they see one. An online database called The Mind Is a Metaphor, created by Brad Pasanek, an assistant professor of English at the University of Virginia, is a searchable bank of phrases, verses, and lines from literature that…

This article recounts a project at the Middle Tennessee State University library to include records for electronic databases in the online catalog. Although electronic databases are accessible via the library's Databases A-Z list and related subject guides, cataloging these resources also provides access via the online catalog, allowing more of…

Online Student Service provides all Houston Community College (HCC) students and its surrounding community access to college information 24/7. Queries may be made regarding the admissions process, financial aid, testing, veterans' affairs, international admission, tuition costs, and programs and courses offered at each HCC location. Also available…

Explains the capabilities of Bibliographic Retrieval Services' CROSS database index, a "postings only" file which serves as a presearch aid to training and database selection, and as a tool for ready reference and interlibrary loan verification. Limitations of the aid are noted, and a specification table summarizes operating information.…

The Document Delivery Service offered by Chemical Abstracts is described in terms of the DIALORDER option on the Dialog information retrieval system, mail requests, and requests transmitted through OCLC's Interlibrary Loan system. Transmission costs, success rates, delivery rates, and other considerations in utilizing the service are included.…

Review of 17 databases available through BRS (Bibliographic Retrieval Services) and/or DIALOG provides addresses of database producers, beginning date of files, and descriptions, including information which may not be given in database documentation. Two new services provided by BRS and DIALOG and three vendors with wider audiences are also…

General information and specific tips for finding resources in the ERIC database highlight advantages and disadvantages of manual searches (who can perform search, location of ERIC collections, procedures for conducting search) and computer searches (results, cost, turnaround time). Procedures for obtaining access to actual copies of ERIC…

Describes computer program in Microsoft Basic which performs the following transformation and printout functions on downloaded files: removes field labels and citation numbers from file; removes search statements, error messages, and sign-off/billing output; allows operator to create headings; allows operator to view, delete, or print file from…

Today many data warehousing systems are data rich, but information poor. Extracting useful information from an ocean of data to support administrative, policy, and instructional decisions becomes a major challenge to both database designers and measurement specialists. This paper focuses on the development of a data processing system that…

Describes the background, document and subject coverage, access points, indexing, and other features of the online version of Energy Bibliography and Index (EBIB). A set of nine figures illustrate such things as a sample EBIB record, searchable fields in the EBIB database, and searching EBIB by index terms. (JL)

Describes the free advisory service available to both users and potential users of chemical and biological databases in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Three specific areas are discussed in which queries about Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry Numbers have been received: isomers, replacing registry numbers, and mixed compounds. (JD)

SEQUEL, a programing language designed for use in database management systems, is shown to be useful in document retrieval systems. Its retrieval capabilities are detailed, some disadvantages noted, and possible additional features are suggested. (FM)

Discusses categorization of MARC records, noting problems which arise because formats have not been defined as distinct sets of content designators. Bibliographic and authority record formats, merging of formats into single format, removal of inconsistencies, and criteria for identifying categories of records are considered. Thirty-one references…

This working paper from the American National Standards Committee Z-39, Subcommittee G on Standard Terms, Abbreviations and Symbols for Use in Interactive Information Retrieval discusses the issue of standardization for command languages used in interactive online searching of bibliographic databases. (EJS)