CDL Database Transitions

a. WorldCat Retires from CDL-hosted Versions December 13, 2001
The CDL-hosted versions of WorldCat-telnet and web will retire December 13, 2001.  The CDL repeatedly asked OCLC to extend our versions through the end of UC Berkeley’s finals period, the last in the UC system (December 20, 2001); however, OCLC was unable to change their schedule, and needed to bring it down before that date.  As a result, beginning December 14, WorldCat will be available only in native mode. Currently, users can access WorldCat via FirstSearch in the following ways:

1. Select “WorldCat (FirstSearch)” from the More databases pull-down menu on the CDL-hosted databases welcome screen (http://www.dbs.cdlib.org); then press “go to it now”.
2. From the CDL Collections and Services web page (http://www.cdlib.org/collections/) select “WorldCat (FirstSearch)” from the Other Databases pull-down menu, then press “go to it now”.

b. Expanded Academic ASAP, National Newspaper Index, and Computer Database Changes (Frank Gravier, Resource Liaison)

Popular CDL resources, the Magazine and Journal Articles (MAGS) database, the National Articles (NEWS) database, and the Computer Articles (COMP) database, are now available with a new interface as part of the CDL Abstracting & Indexing Transition project.  The transition to the vendor interface includes a name change for some of the databases.  Expanded Academic ASAP is the new name for the Magazine and Journal Articles database; Computer Database replaces the Computer Articles database; and National Newspaper Index replaces the Newspaper Articles database.  All three databases are searched using the InfoTrac web interface.

Expanded Academic ASAP indexes over 2600 periodical titles and includes full-text articles from over 1400 periodicals. Content includes citations and articles from popular magazines, general interest journals, and scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences and general sciences. Legal, business, and health journals are also included.  Citations for most articles include abstracts and in-depth subject indexing.

National Newspaper Index indexes articles from 5 of the top U.S. newspapers: New York Times (including the New York Times Book Review), Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal.  The database provides citations only, but includes enhanced title content and in-depth subject indexing.

The Computer Database indexes over 150 journals in the field of computing, telecommunications, and electronics.  Over 100 of the titles indexed include full-text. Citations for most articles include abstracts and in-depth subject indexing.

[Note: Below is detailed information on specific features and functionality of Expanded Academic ASAP, National Newspaper Index, and Computer Database]

More Content via InfoTrac

Extended dates of coverage for all three indexes are available through the InfoTrac interface.  Expanded Academic ASAP and the Computer Database are now indexed back to 1980 (in the CDL load these databases begin in 1988), while indexing in the National Newspaper Index has been extended to 1977 for some titles (in the CDL interface all coverage begins in 1982).

Four Search Methods

The InfoTrac web interface provides four methods for searching.  The Keyword search is the default search for CDL users.  Subject Guide, Relevancy, and Advanced searches are available as well.  Context sensitive help screens for each search method are available.  Select the search method you want from the menu bar on the left, and then select Help for tips on searching.  New search features in InfoTrac include proximity searching; searchable full text; and the ability to limit a search to peer-reviewed publications.  Increased truncation options allow internal truncation and the ability to specify the amount of truncation.  More display options and full content with graphics are available as well.

Display options include a brief citation, and an extended citation that includes linked subject headings.  When full-text is available for an article it is provided in html.  Many full-text articles are also available as pdf documents and may include graphics (in 1999 Gale began including full color graphics for scanned articles).  Retrieval options are displayed at the bottom of every full record display.

Viewing and Saving Records

A marking feature is available to save specific records.  The marked list view includes retrieval options at the bottom of the list.  Retrieval options include browser printing, email, and, if available, pdf documents.  Downloading is available using your preferred browser’s Save feature.  InfoTrac allows “click viewing” of all articles from a specific journal issue from a citation in a results set.

CDL users will be pleased with a number of familiar features available using the InfoTrac interface, as well several others planned for future implementation.

Saving Searches and Updating Search via Infomark

The Infomark feature can be used in several ways to customize your InfoTrac searching.  For example, if you frequently do Relevancy searches in the National Newspaper Index you can bookmark or save the URL for that kind of search in NNI.  You can also set up “predefined searches” in InfoTrac by saving or bookmarking the URL from the citation list of a search.  Each time you use this predefined search updated search results will be included in the citation list.  Users can use this function to run their own Updates.  Gale does not have an automated current awareness feature similar to the CDL Update feature, so users will need to remember to run the search on a regular basis.

Linking to Content

The Gale Group and CDL are both working to implement OpenURL (SFX) linking technology in the InfoTrac databases which will allow cross database links to CDL content and holdings.  CDL is testing this function with Gale now, and users should see this after the first of the year.  Future enhancements include the ability to download records to citation management software like EndNote, Gale expects the tagged display format to become available in the summer of 2002.

In addition, to the help screens available in the InfoTrac interface, extensive help information is available from the Gale Group Customer Service Center as well.  Resources include search assistance by email, user documentation, and customer education tools like database fact sheets, searching tip, and practice searches.  Users can also subscribe to an InfoTrac Discussion listserv as well.  For more information visit the Customer Service Center at http://www.galegroup.com/cust_serv/

As the UC Resource Liaison for Expanded Academic ASAP, National Newspaper Index and the Computer Database, I would appreciate receiving feedback on issues related to these databases at gravier@cats.ucsc.edu.