Keywords
Citation
Premkamolnetr, N. (2001), "Manual of Online Search Strategies Volume 1: Sciences: Agriculture, Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Biosciences, Engineering and Energy", Online Information Review, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 329-337. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2001.25.5.329.5
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
As a consequence of a shift into the so‐called knowledge‐based society, the information service industry is currently growing in order to convey various kinds of information from the original information sources to the target groups. Major information service providers, information brokers, and organizations that own or produce information have continuously developed and offered different kinds of information services to their target groups of users. Such services include dial‐up online services, CD‐ROMs, and booming Internet‐based information services. These numerous services, which are continuously brought into the market, vary in their content, subject coverage, retrieval systems, and technology. It is therefore difficult for busy information professionals to keep abreast of all the available products, which certainly affects the quality of the services offered to their users. They need an informative manual to learn about this issue.
This book, which focuses on science, is the first of the three‐volume Manual of Online Search Strategies (volume 2 focuses on business, law, news and patents; volume 3, on the humanities and social sciences). Chapter one (by the editors), provides some general considerations about search strategies as a background for readers, while the following five chapters outline information resources on agriculture (by Marilyn Mullay), earth sciences (by Lisa Wishard and Melissa Lamont), chemistry (by Ian Young), biosciences (by Frank R. Kellerman), and engineering and energy (by Stephanie McKeating and Roddy MacLeod). The book ends with database and subject indexes.
The five main chapters present the current information resources in each subject area including CD‐ROM, online, and Internet‐based information services. The description of each major database in the field includes its producer and characteristics – such as coverage fields, updating, number of records; search aids and their details; example searches and records; and useful features available in each database to enhance the search results. Additionally, general databases covering each field are also presented and information given on the producers and search services. The volume also suggests appropriate ways to search and how to use some of the features to develop effective search strategies for each database. Sample records from certain databases are also presented for better understanding. Furthermore, trends in IT affecting each subject area are also discussed.
Despite having professional interests in this area, I nonetheless discovered several of the databases in this volume for the first time. Additionally, this informative volume also guided me in how to search more effectively. I highly recommend this volume for both reference librarians who want to provide better and more efficient information services to their customers and those involved in acquiring such products.