26 Commercial Databases - Information Venues part 1 (Information Research)
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
26 Commercial Databases - Information Venues part 1 (Information Research)
links and more at http://spireproject.com/database.htm
Commercial databases are simply collections of information presented
electronically. Databases range in size from simple books made
searchable, to several billion records in the larger news databases.
The retail database industry is obscure. Costs are highly variable and
difficult to determine in advance. Products with the same name may
contain different information. Databases are frequently combined into
larger collections of databases, (also called databases,) often several
times, so an individual magazine or database may exist within several
databases and several collections.
Within this confusion are a collection of definitive, must-search
databases. Definitive databases are determined by successful marketing.
Not necessarily the 'best', nor most useful, but the market-successful
become definitive resources. From there, success breeds further value.
Such databases will be invaluable in your search for answers. More
discussion on the database industry can be found in section 9 of this
FAQ.
Free Databases
At the edge of the database industry are a number of prominent
databases that have emerged as free databases, delivered over the
internet directly from their source. Look briefly at some of these
databases:
* ERIC, (Education Resources Information Center) is presented by the
[US] National Library of Education. Established in 1966, ERIC is one of
the cornerstone databases for the education field and provides
citations & abstracts to education-related literature.
* CRIS, (Current Research Information System) is produced by the US
Dept of Agriculture (USDA) and includes Canadian, USDA, and Czech
agriculture, food and forestry research. Projects sponsored by these or
affiliated agencies are included
* Agricola is produced by the [US] National Agricultural Library and
its cooperators. This is an important bibliographic database covering
agriculture and all the related disciplines (including forestry &
agri-business & alternative agriculture). Started in 1970, this has
become an important database limited only by its bibliographic nature.
* Thomas, presented by the [US] Library of Congress, delivers US
legislative information (including Congress, Representatives, Senate &
the many committee reports).
* EDGAR, produced by the (US) Securities and Exchange Commission,
delivers all public US company submissions as required by law. The
information is factual and numerical - and includes both current and
past submissions.
* MOCAT, UKOP and AGIP are the US, UK and Australian government
publication databases
* The Library of Congress, The British Library, and The National
Library of Australia card catalogues can be searched online.
* Medline is produced by the [US] National Library of Medicine and
delivers references to all areas of medicine (including nursing,
dentistry, nutrition), with some abstracts.
* The United States Department of Energy (DOE) publishes The DOE
Information Bridge, a database with full-text and bibliographic records
of DOE-sponsored research and development. Covers research projects in
energy sciences and technology.
* BIOGRAPHY(r) Online is published at www.biography.com and includes
15000+ biographical abstracts - but most are really really short.
For more free bibliographic databases, I strongly suggest you read
Bases de données gratuites (http://urfist.univ-lyon1.fr/gratuits.html)
by Jean-Pierre Lardy. This directory has over 200 entries! Use the
Altavista Babelfish to have a look at it.
All Databases
Gale Research produces the Gale Directory of Databases (in 2 volumes).
This is the definitive listing of databases in the world, for the
moment. Most large libraries will have a copy. New editions are
released every 6 months.
There are also smaller, more focused directories like Fulltext Sources
Online published by Information Today or The Directory of Australian
and New Zealand Databases by the Australian Database Development
Association (ADDA).
Database Industry
You will access commercial databases through one of five basic sources.
1_ From a Commercial Database Retailer,
2_ From alternatively funded (free) internet sources,
3_ Through a Library or other venue with a site license,
4_ With the help of an Information Professional (searching for you),
5_ Directly from the source with a personal subscription.
Consider the Commercial Database Retailer as the department store of
the information market. The industry is dominated by a handful of
dedicated retailers like The Dialog Corporation, Lexis-Nexis, and
InfoMart. Other retailers focus on certain types of databases.
Retailers select the databases they carry, and enjoy mark-ups in the
region of 300% to 400% from which they provide customer service,
support and promotion. So very much service and promotion is provided
that these retail giants hold a pivotal role in the distribution of
commercial databases.
The most important selection tool for databases is the database
description. These are factual, accurate descriptions of what each
database includes and how they can be searched.
Many of the database descriptions are online. To facilitate finding
these, we have added links here and in other articles. Further
descriptions may be available from retailer websites.
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