Exploring Online Electronic Information Choices

By:Spring Lea BoehlerEmporia State UniversityClass of Colorado V

Feeling too much of this?

• E=mc2• “Four score and

seven years ago…”• www.overload.com• Pork bellies up 1%• DNA cloning.• Revised Colorado

Statutes.

And not enough of this or that?

Let’s see if we can find some balance...

Dialog.com offers...

• Great breadth of subjects• Exact searches once you know the

language• More than one source on the same

subject

Dialog.com has some limitations:• Time to learn search language• Time to sort through all the

databases and all the articles in each database

• Cost of access is very high• Some ambiguity about what

content you might be getting (i.e. full text vs. abstract)

Users most likely to benefit from Dialog. Com are:• Information brokers• Corporate librarians• Some law librarians• Academic librarians• A few public

librarians• Special librarians

What users might be better served with other online information sources?

• School librarians• Public librarians• Law librarians• Medical librarians

The following sites were visited and evaluated based on how well they met the criteria for each of the four library types:

• Uncover• CNN Interactive• NewsLibrary• Midnight at the Internet Café• Pub Med• Food and Drug Administration Home

Page• Center for Disease Control Home Page• American Medical Association Home

Page• Colorado Revised Statutes Online• Legal Resource Section at ACLIN/Marmot

School libraries see a lot of the following needs from students:• Science questions, especially on types

of experiments for Science Fair• History questions, especially around the

time of History Fair• Current biographies on famous

personalities like Oprah or Kate Winslet.• Current “hot” topics such as abortion,

anorexia nervosa, or euthanasia.

And the winner is...

• Uncover!• Free searching and

abstracts.• Document delivery

costs money.• Available through

ACLIN. • Http://

www.aclin.org

This is the main command page for Uncover Article Access.

Search results for “abortion”

Search results for “Oprah”

Public libraries see the following needs for their patrons:• Information about current hot topics

in world and local news• A wide range of reference materials• Genealogy documents• Local and state laws• The ability to get materials they do

not have in house

And the winner is...

• Midnight at the Internet Café

• Available through ACLIN or as printed booklets

• Http://www.aclin.org/other/community/maic/midnight.htm

• Completely free!

This is the front page for MAIC

MAIC’s Reference Categories

Law libraries need...

• Information about current bills being debated

• Information about recent court decisions

• Easy access to local and state laws• Information about older court

cases

And the winner is...

• Government sources in Marmot

• Available through ACLIN/Marmot

• Completely free!• Some ILL may be

necessary

Government Publications available through Marmot.

Colorado Legislature Information Available at Marmot.

Medical libraries need:

• Information about current drugs and procedures

• Information about current laws that affect the medical field

• Information about current research developments

• Information about diseases

And the winner is...

• The FDA page!• Free access• Easy to navigate• Very current

information• Http://

www.fda.gov

FDA’s front page

One of the many pages available inside the FDA site

For full text reviews of each of the sites, visit the Colorado V Home Page atHttp://www.literata.com/co5/

Thanks for your attention!!!