Given the many changes in our students and their study and research practices, libraries are finding it necessary to seek new ways to reach these students. The Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created a new model to do so. Librarian's Office Hours are a hybrid of reference and instructional services that…

Library patrons familiar with Web searching conventions often find library searching to be less familiar and even intimidating. This article describes and evaluates a series of usability research studies employing two different and popular methodologies: user-centered redesign and usability testing. Card sorting and affinity mapping were used to…

This article explores how online pathfinders can best meet the information needs of graduate students and foster advanced research. The article reviews the literature on pathfinders, including the historic characteristics of print pathfinders, and the recommendations that have emerged for online pathfinder content. The article explores the…

Explains five causes of false drops in online searching: reverse concepts, homographs, truncation, acronyms, and negatives. Examples from a variety of databases are provided. (EM)

Discusses the basic principles of the application of microfilm (analog) and electronic (digital) technologies for data storage. Image quality is examined, searching and retrieval capabilities are considered, and hardcopy output resolution is described. It is concluded that microfilm is still the preferred archival medium. (5 references) (LRW)

Provides a summary look at the features provided by nine major World Wide Web search engines. Examines size, Boolean operators, phrase searching capabilities, media searching, format options, and special features. (LRW)

Describes a study evaluating the effectiveness of the Information Retrieval, Ltd. (IRL) Life Sciences Collection database in a field where BioSciences Information Service (BIOSIS) claims to offer comprehensive coverage of the international literature. The two databases are described, and the depth of controlled indexing is compared for the two

Compares database update currency, number of hits, elapsed time, number of offline prints or online types, offline print turnaround time, vendor rates, total search cost, and discounted search cost based on vendor discount rates for five simple searches run on three major commercial vendors' online systems. (CWM)

Examines the strengths and weaknesses of the three chemical dictionary files now available online--CHEMNAME, CHEMDEX, CHEMLINE--to aid the searcher in selecting the most appropriate database. (Author/JD)

Examines the relative benefits and searching philosophies of five major search systems (DIALOG, ORBIT, BRS, NLM, and DOE/RECON) as a selection aid. Differences in command language, full text searching capability, use and expression of Boolean operators, and searching mechanisms are discussed, and comparison charts and system/database comparisons…

A comparison of the Magazine Index (MI) and the New York Times Information Bank (IB) showed the two data bases have little in common, mainly due to differences in focus, indexing, vocabulary, use online, and output. For business and government users, IB is the best choice; for more general and academic purposes, MI provides access to more…

Discussion of online help systems in online public access catalogs (OPACs) focuses on a study that evaluated the online help system for the NOTIS (Northwestern Online Total Integrated System) OPAC. Features of the system reviewed include online functions; training features; general interface features; access points; and message content and display…

Most high school students employ the basic search strategy of keyword searching that most search engines use. However, students get frustrated and end up surfing from one site to another or abandoning their search in frustration. In this article, the author discusses several strategies that can be used by students to understand the nature of…

There is a common assumption that hypermedia navigation is influenced by a learner's style of thinking, so people who are inclined to apply sequential and analytical strategies (left-thinkers) are thought to browse hypermedia in a linear way, whereas those who prefer holistic and intuitive strategies (right-thinkers) tend towards non-linear paths.…

Examines the effectiveness of online searching for embedded stories, poems, essays, and other literary works in the Magazine Index and Modern Language Association Bibliography databases. Strategies and results of 16 test searches set up to test the access capabilities of the two databases are profiled. (SW)