Gale Virtual Reference Library Database Analysis

1. Gale Virtual Reference LibraryDatabase Analysis Cherie Bronkar LS 5013 ISAR

2. Gale Virtual Reference Library Thompson Gale P.O. Box 9187Farmington Hills, MI 48333-9187 General Inquiries:Phone: 1-800-877-4253Fax: 1-877-363-4253

3. Gale Virtual Reference Library Size: Size is dependent upon the subscribing library’s choices. Up to 1,000 electronic reference titles are available. Texas Woman’s University’s subscription includes 133 titles Type: Full-text references, PDF and graphics Coverage Dates:. Coverage dates are dependent upon the publications added to the individual library’s subscription. Thompson Gale adds e-book titles as they are published. It is each library’s decision to add newly released titles to their subscriptions.

4. Intended Audience Intended Audience: Thompson Gale provides database packages that are geared towards several different audiences. Libraries have the opportunity to customize their subscription to their user’s needs. TWU’s subscription is geared toward an audience of university faculty and students. Comments: Gale Virtual Reference provides 24/7 remote access, unlimited simultaneous use, citation generation, is cross searchable using InfoTrac with Gale periodical databases and resources centers and allows users to customize search screens.

5. Use of Gale Virtual Reference Library Why/when do you use this DB? Gale Virtual Reference Library should be used by anyone seeking reference sources. It is especially beneficial to users who need off-site access. Searching through several reference sources at one time allows users to quickly find results. Students who need information and cannot check out a book are able to electronically access reference information and e-mail, save or print material. Those who need graphics or PDF versions of information can easily locate material through this database. It is useful to those who need full text or a cross reference to journal articles. If a user needs reference information on a particular subject area or would like to search a specific reference title this database offers information unique to the needs of those searching for reference information. What are the advantages of using this DB instead of Google or another general Web search engine? The fact that results are guaranteed to be scholarly research information allows users to feel confident the information is correct. Gale offers advanced searching with numerous limiting capabilities which are not available through general search engines. Cross referencing to journal articles is available and users can search entire contents of specific titles. Users can refer to previous searches, utilize e-mail options, and create citations. Each title included in the database features a complete index and list of illustrations, not found in other search engines.

6. Representation Language Natural Dictionary offered No Thesaurus Command Control Language Allows users to structure their search in a programming code like manner. Useful for those who are experienced in search with Dialog. Offers a drop down menu of two character index codes.

7. Specificity A basic search using the query as a keyword is the default search option. Keyword searches search titles, introductory text, authors, “back of the book” indexes and the first fifty words in the article. Subject headings do not appear until the user has chosen a title. After a title has been selected sub headings are provided for the resource.

8. Specificity This search began with a search for McCarthyism resulting in 38 records. The second record from The Dictionary of American History, was selected. Shown in the screen shot above are the subject headings listed for the search in this publication. There are also links to articles indexed using those terms. The subject headings listed are not extensive and could be expanded if the use of broader and narrower terms were employed.

9. Exhaustivity This database does not offer the user a method for searching broader or narrower terms. The retrieval method employed for this database’s e-Books relies on indexes of specific words, rather than focusing on headings and subheadings needed to allow searches to be broadened or narrowed.

10. Spelling Misspellings do not result in retrievals. The results of a misspelled search are displayed as “No Results Matching Your Search Term(s) Were Found. Please check your spelling or try another search term(s).” The user can utilize the dictionary option to ensure they are spelling their search term correctly. I misspelled McCarthyism as both mcarthyism and mcarthism and was able to retrieve the correct spelling to apply to my search. The following screen shot shows the results of the dictionary search for mcarthism.

11. Spelling Results of searching the dictionary option for mcarthism.

12. Synonym Control and Default Index or Access points. As part of the test for synonym control the word “communism” retrieved 279 hits and the word “socialism” retrieved 293 hits. Indicating that synonyms result in a very similar number of hits. On the other hand a search for the word “cancer” retrieved 500 hits and a search for “Malignant Neoplasm” retrieved only 2 hits. This is due to the fact that this database uses natural language rather than a controlled vocabulary. Additional subject terms are linked directly from the subject headings. Page locators are listed, although not all are linked to the articles. Additional access points are links to information about the publication, a PDF version of the article, how to cite the source information, the source citation, e-Table of contents, e-Book Index and a list of illustrations.

13. Search Features Search Types Basic Keyword Document Title Entire Document. Advanced Extensive drop down menu Limit to documents with images Limit by publication dates Limit by publication titles Limit by subject area Limit to targeted audience Command Controlled Language searching Command line searching Drop down menu of two character codes

14. Search Features

15. Search Protocols

16. Search Helps Gale Virtual Reference’s help menu is extensive and provides information helpful to both novice and expert users. The help sections cover every option offered with the database allowing users to get the most from their searches and utilize features such as e-mailing, saving, using InfoTrac and much more.

17. Search Features Conclusions Gale Virtual Reference’s search features offer users many searching options. Basic searching is simplified with a keyword search and options to search the document title or the entire document. Subjects are also provided with the option to view specific publications on the subject. Novice searchers can search this database easily and get meaningful results. Advanced searching offers searches the ability to limit or expand their searches with many more options, including the unique feature of limiting by target audience and limiting to documents with images. The databases offers search tips that cover an extensive list of protocols along with instructions. For expert searches, Gale offers Command Controlled Language searching. The only other database I’ve run across using this search method is Dialog. Those who are familiar with this type of searching can create searches that meet their exact needs. Gale’s database is unique in that it addresses searching at very different skill levels and produces meaningful results with each type of searching. Their advanced search offers more options than similar databases such as “Oxford Reference Online” which does not offer CCL searching at all and less search options. Gale’s search screens are easily navigated and provide detailed help screens and search tips for each level of searching.

18. Database Evaluation Coverage- coverage is limited by the titles contained in the database. The number and types of titles vary greatly depending upon what a library chooses to include. Currency- The search for ‘politics and United States and Middle East’ resulted in the most current material being dated 2006. Of the remaining results 4 were dated 2005 and one 2000. Currency of this database relies on the publishing date of the titles. Updates occur as titles are revised creating a gap in current information. Predictability- The information seen on the results screen does not give a description of the material in the article. It provides the title, author, publication and date. If the user could not determine usefulness with this criteria, they would need to click on the article link or the about this publication link to get more information. Retrievability- The use of the exact search terms in an advanced search and a CCL search resulted in the same information. Re-arranging the facets for the search resulted in the same results. Searching with misspelled words results in no items found. As far as misspellings this database is not forgiving.

19. Building Block Search/Advanced Search Using a building block search, I searched the term politics for 1677 results adding United States produced 273 results and the addition of Middle East narrowed the results to 6

20. Building Block/CCL Search Using a CCL search resulted in exactly the same hits as the Advanced Search produced.

21. Building Block Search/Oxford Reference Online First search for politics resulted in 1477 hits. This database does not give a total number of hits. It breaks them down by number of hits in each subject area. Politics and United States resulted in 2421 hits. Politics and United States and Middle East resulted in 358 results.

22. Usability Ease of use/User Friendliness-This database is very easy to use and provides search options to satisfy both novice and expert users. Search Screens- Search screens are laid out in a manner that allows the user to easily see search options without being overcrowded. The advanced search screen uses boxes and drop down menus to guide the user in selecting additional limiters. Help Screens- Help screens are set up with a table of contents allowing users to easily navigate to the area in which the need help. Help screens provide links to other help areas that relate to the information on the current subject.

23. Conclusion Gale Virtual Reference provides quick, efficient retrieval of reference information. It is easily navigated by novice and expert users. The database contents are completely customizable. Each library chooses the e-books that best suit their needs. On the down side, those familiar with this database at one library may not find the same contents on another library’s version. There is some lag time in updating e-books, due to the fact that they are available in published form first and then digitized. Gale’s database provides users with a searchable format, allowing users to quickly view contents of an e-book based upon their needs. It offers the unique ability to locate graphics as well as text. Advanced searching capabilities and CCL options are well adapted to advanced searching techniques. This database is cross searchable with other Gale databases allowing the user the unique ability to search e-books, journals and newspapers with one search. Overall this database provides the combination of content and ease of use to meet most user’s needs. It offers a wide array of subject areas for libraries to choose from and allows libraries the option of choosing e-books to fill gaps in their electronic access collection.