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Library Notes Facelifts, Changes, and More ChangesBy Prof. Jane DevineThe world of electronic databases is filled every year with new interfaces, changes in content, mergers, new products, and some failures of old products. The Library's electronic collection has reflected all those kinds of changes within the last year. EBSCOHost has released a new interface (see page 5). LexisNexis Academic has changed its name as well as its interface (see next column on this page). WilsonWeb is currently promoting a new interface. Even the Library's catalog has a different look (see p.2). These represent more than just changes in appearance, but bring changes in content, expanded capabilities and new features. Academic Press' IDEAL, an electronic journal database, was purchased this year by Elsevier. The IDEAL product has been merged into Elseviers ScienceDirect product and the Library's subscription will cease. Britannica Online started life as a fee-based service. It continued to maintain a level of subscription service but in 1999, it introduced a free version of its product with the intention of selling advertising to support the cost. This year saw a shift back from free to bee-based service. The advertising model did not prove successful. Britannica Online continues to have a free site but it provides only the first lines of its articles as a teaser to promote its subscription services. The Library has subscribed to the fee-based Britannica Online. It will discontinue its link to the much-curtailed free service. The Library currently subscribes to The World Book Encyclopedia Online as well. netLibrary, the e-book provider, also experienced business failure and was bailed out at the last minute by OCLC, a long time service provider to the Library world. netLibrary has been reorganized and is beginning to offer new Ebook collections again. The Library offers access to the CUNY-wide netLibrary e-book collection. New titles added to the Library's electronic collection include the Encyclopedia of Life Sciences produced by the same company that publishes Nature magazine. Also added were the literature databases MagillOnAuthors and MagillOnLiterature. Many more titles are under consideration and will be added when possible. As changes occur, the Library will communicate them to the LaGuardia community. Announcements of all new titles are made regularly through GroupWise postings. New Looks in Lexis/NexisBy Marie SpinaInformational databases are changing faster than the weather. Over the last year changes to copyright provisions, corporate mergers and new marketing ventures have drastically altered costs. More importantly for students and faculty, the content and look of what database publishers offer has changed. The Library faculty keeps up by reading professional literature, attending in-service workshops and vendor meetings and sharing hints so that we can help our students use the databases effectively. This article will highlight changes instituted in Lexis/Nexis. The name of the service if officially Lexis/Nexis Academic. After clicking on the link from our home page (www.laguardia.edu/library), you will notice that the new search screens are red and black on white and gray. There are two options to begin searching. A new "Quick News Search" provides English language news for the previous two years. The screen includes focused searches called "Get a Case" and "Company Information." There is no longer a "basic" search option for News. Librarian recommend that students use the second option, called "Guided News." Guided News has several steps requiring selection from drop down boxes. The first two require a choice from a variety of news categories and sources. The researcher then provides keywords in a dialog box and selects in what part of an item the term should be searched, e.g., Headline, Author, full text, etc. The searcher can combine and limit three keywords with drop down connectors of "and," "and not," w/5, /10 or /25, /p or /s (meaning with five, ten or twenty-five words or within the same paragraph, or same sentence. Results can still be viewed in Key Word in Context (KWIC) and Expanded formats as well as full text. Documents can be saved, printed, or e-mailed. The FOCUS feature is still a valuable way to search within results lists. Lexis/Nexis Academic still includes useful reference tools such as the excellent Country Profiles from CIA Factbook, the Walden Country Reports, State Profiles and the World Almanac. Some public opinion polls are available and Quick News still provides access in drop-down boxes to New Wires and TV and radio transcripts. Lexis/Nexis Academic is a great tool that could take a new researcher time to master. Need help? Ask for a library instruction session and learn with us!
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