Despite many voices of reason, a common misconception of the Internet is that all the information in the world is available on it. People who are new to the world of online information find interesting Web sites and a great quantity of information and then assume that everything else can be found there as well. Information professionals know the limits of online sources, and the Internet in particular. Librarians find students spending hours on the Net when a quick search in Readers' Guide or an almanac may find the answer more quickly.
How does the Internet compare with the online services? Can the information content of Chemical Abstracts, ERIC, INSPEC, and ABI/Inform be found on the Internet? Since most online services can be reached via the Internet, all of the databases within the services are technically Internet-accessible, but when most people refer to the Internet they are talking about freely-accessible information sources. Given that definition, the answer remains no. Internet-accessible bibliographic databases represent only the rudimentary beginnings of a competitor to commercial online services. The databases are relatively few and far between, have little depth in years of coverage, and feature only simple search syntax. The U.S. federal government produces or sponsors a number of major bibliographic databases. As they were in the early days of online services, these databases have been in the forefront of Internet-accessible databases.
The availability of the ERIC database in an easy-to-use format on the Web does a great service to end-users interested in educational topics. However, the professional searcher will quickly become disappointed by this resource. The database coverage only goes back to 1991. Even more frustrating is the unreliability of the site, suffering as it does from unpredictable down times. The search interface does not permit nested search statements, no online thesaurus is available, and search results are not saved as sets, so there can be no post-search combining of previous searches. The documentation states that "the most relevant document will appear first," which is what all relevancy ranking engines claim. How well that succeeds is something users should judge on their own. Other sort options are not even available: the user cannot request a reverse chronological list or an arrangement by author.
Compared to the search and display capabilities of a good CD-ROM or online version of ERIC, this Web version is quite primitive. However, for quick searches of recent years, this can still be a useful resource. When it is functioning properly, it can be more convenient for end-users than coming into a library to search a CD-ROM. In addition, for those seeking more advanced capabilities who are willing to deal with more problematic connections, the ERIC database is still available through a few other options, including gopher, telnet, and tn3270. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation lists these at http://www.cua.edu/www/eric_ae/search.html.
Unfortunately, this version of the Monthly Catalog database suffers from numerous problems similar to the ERIC database. First, it only covers items back to January 1994. Most online and CD-ROM versions include the entire run available electronically, back to July 1976. Search options on this WWW version include field searches by title, SuDoc number, item number, stock number, and publication year. Boolean operators, phrase searches, and truncation are supported in the WAIS interface. Like ERIC, nesting is absent and searches are not saved as sets. The absence of index browse capabilities, direct author searching, and post-search combination of previous searches greatly limits the functionality of this database.
The DOE Reports Database covers a significant portion of the report literature in energy research. The dates of coverage limit the utility of the database now, but as time goes on and more records are added, it should become increasingly useful. Boolean operators, phrase searching, field searching, and truncation provide some advanced search options, but the database is still hamstrung by the same limitations as ERIC and the Monthly Catalog. Another problem is that Netscape (version 2.0 and above) cuts off the last part of the display in many records, usually the library locator portion.
Another technical reports bibliographic database is offered by NASA: the Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) Technical Report Server or RECONselect. Available at http://www.sti.nasa.gov/RECONselect.html, this service features three databases that provide much broader coverage than just 1994 to the present. The NASA Technical Reports database covers records that appear in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR), and this database goes back to 1962. The NACA Technical Reports database covers 1915 to 1960 and includes reports from NASA's predecessor "as well as various other aviation reports." The third database, dubbed Open Literature, covers 1962 through the present and includes selected aeronautical and space science literature published in other sources. With options to search the databases separately or all together, RECONselect provides access to a substantial number of citations and abstracts in aeronautics and the space sciences.
A new, more sophisticated search interface is under development, and can be explored through the CASI TRS Version 3 link. The "enhancements include a revised search results headline display, improved search capabilities, and a new document display format." The former display format was in a fixed width font while the newer version is in HTML with hypertext links when appropriate. Comparing the search capabilities of the two versions demonstrates some of these differences, but even more significantly, it turns out that no records appear with a publication date of 1995 or 1996 in the default version. The Version 3 database must be searched to retrieve records published after 1994. Presumably, the new version will shortly replace the current default database.
WAIS does allow for natural language queries, but in the GPO, DOE, and NASA databases, a search is far more effective with keywords, such as "laser cavities," than trying something like "I am looking for studies on laser cavities." Single keyword searches may work equally well in a WAIS database versus most other database structures, but the success of more complex searches depends on the quality of the WAIS interface and even the version of WAIS being used.
The search capabilities of UnCoverWeb remain fairly primitive. Even with a Web connection, it seems to react more slowly than other sites. The absence of subject indexing and a controlled vocabulary in the UnCover database remains a major limitation to its utility for comprehensive subject searching. Typographical errors further complicate retrieval. Yet it is the only general periodical index with coverage in all fields that is Internet-accessible without a fee and without any required registration.
Not only does QPAT accept natural language searches, field searches, Boolean operators, and nesting, but it keeps track of previous queries in search sets. At last a WWW form-based search permits combining of search sets, not just search terms. So many other Web databases give the searcher only one search statement. The query can be redone, but such search forms give no option to combine different sets. Considering that it is only recently that some forms of Boolean capabilities have become common on the Web, it should come as no surprise that advanced search features have taken so long. For whatever reason it has taken so long to bring this search feature to the Web, it is long overdue. Finally, online searchers can try a World Wide Web interface that can run advanced searches using the basic search capabilities that they have come to expect of online services and well-designed CD-ROMs. QPAT even does automatic truncation, searching for word variants rather than just any word starting with the specified stem, and provides an option to turn off the automatic truncation.
Some field searches are restricted to paying subscribers, but, except that limitation, QPAT*US offers a remarkably well designed and very powerful interface to the U.S. patents bibliographic database. Compare the features of QPAT to that of the CNIDR U.S. Patents Project at http://patents.cnidr.org:4242. CNIDR has done a remarkable job of creating a functional interface to the peculiarities of a WAIS database. Three different search options--simple, Boolean, and advanced--offer field searching, Boolean operators, nesting, truncation, and finally a system that can sort results chronologically. Like QPAT, the database covers back to 1974. CNIDR is to be commended for an excellent set of search options that are well ahead of most other databases mentioned in this column. Yet after seeing the speed and the ability to combine previous search sets on the QPAT server, it is tough to go back to CNIDR. Trying the search on CNIDR, in a single search statement, resulted in the message, "Sorry, your search took longer than 6 minutes and has timed out." [Editor's Note: For an in-depth look at QPAT*US, see the review by patent expert Nancy Lambert in this issue. --PH]
For online searchers used to the comfort and reliability of commercial online services, QPAT represents the possibilities of the future. Questel*Orbit presents a compelling vision of how to transfer the search capabilities of a command line system into a WWW interface. In addition, they follow the practice of UnCover in that they freely give away access to the bibliographic database in the hopes of reaping profits through selling access to the full-text portion. While it is too much to expect that all bibliographic databases will be free one day, this kind of WWW interface can at least help in moving completely away from connect-time charges. Let the transition begin!
ERIC Database | http://ericir.syr.edu/Eric/ |
GPO Monthly Catalog | http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos400.html |
DOE Technical Reports | http://www.doe.gov/html/dra/dra.html |
NASA Technical Reports | http://www.sti.nasa.gov/RECONselect.html |
UnCover Web | http://www.carl.org/uncover/ |
QPAT*US | http://www.qpat.com/ |
CNIDR Patents Project | http://patents.cnidr.org:4242/ |
Communications to the author should be addressed to Greg R. Notess, Montana State University Libraries, Bozeman, MT 59717-0332; 406/994-6563; greg@notess.com ; http://www.notess.com.
Copyright © 1996, Online Inc. All rights reserved.