Database Dilemma October 6, 2006
Posted by sbrisco in : Community , 1 comment so farA recent discussion on the LM_NET school librarian’s list posed the question of how long school libraries should hold periodicals within the collection before weeding them. Most librarians responded that they retained magazine journals between 3-5 years before discarding, while others responded that they no longer ordered print journals for research because online databases provided students with accessible research journals. This comment made we wonder how many of us actually investigate our online databases to determine what each contains and what information is NOT available within the database?
Because so many states provide consortiums of database programs that allow schools to participate with their public and university library programs, many librarians may not examine the database holdings —they’re just happy to be able to provide them to their students. Others, with limited funding, may try to find databases that provide the most “bells and whistles” for the best price or that meet the needs of various levels (such as elementary and middle school or high school and college). But how many of us actually dig into a database to determine if it really meets the needs of our students and teachers?
Just recently I had the opportunity to assist a science teacher who needed a journal article from March, 2001. Because the science department was one of the more difficult groups to persuade to utilize the library’s databases, I immediately wanted to help with her request and to show-off the databases. She asked that the article contain the full text, as well as the wonderful diagrams—which she planned to share with her class. After checking our stacks and realizing that we held only the current print issues of the journal, I decided to look through the databases. After browsing at least four different ones, I discovered that three of them contained the journal in full-text…but none offered a .pdf format of the journal as it appeared in the original print edition. Because we assumed that our databases contained “everything”…we had discarded our back issues of the print journals.
From that experience I realized that many of the databases that I had expected to offer most, if not all, of the resources that our students would need for research, did not offer the materials many of my teachers needed for instruction or project assignments. While most databases offered video clips, audio clips, full-text articles, and specialized journals, the majority did not include what my science department wanted — full text, scholarly journals with .pdf formats of the original print edition. What this meant for my specific situation was that I would need to seriously investigate database contents to determine which ones WOULD meet the needs of specific classes if I wanted them to utilize the library’s online resources.
As I began to dig deeper into my databases to check their contents (looking specifically at the full-text listing of the periodicals offered and the inclusion dates), I realized that I needed to ask my department heads to provide me with some of their favorite research journal titles or at least a list of periodicals they would most likely use for research assignments. From that list, I would then be able to share with them which databases would provide the best results for their projects AND determine which databases would not be renewed because of their lack of content, currency, or format.
To determine if a database meets the needs of your students and teachers, be sure to check:
• The database periodical holdings list—usually found under the “Publications List” on the database search screen OR on the company’s website of the specific database product
• Inclusion dates— when was the periodical added to the database? Does it offer full-text? Graphics? Citations or abstracts only?
• The curriculum being taught —what is being studied in the classroom? Do your teachers’ or students’ textbooks refer them to “Additional Readings” within specific periodicals? Does your database offer those periodicals?
• Lexile levels — many databases are providing Lexile reading levels for their journal articles. If your school uses these for reading, be sure to check the product to make it more user-friendly for all your readers.
• Federated searching – if you have more than one database from a certain company, does it offer federated searching (or a one search option) to allow users to search within all databases at once rather than one at a time.
• Focus — does the database provide a balance of resources on various topics? Is it specializing in a specific field or subject area? What materials are included? What materials are not included?
• E-book content—does the database mirror a print resource or several sets of specific print titles? Does it contain several individual titles from printed books? Are those materials quality titles or just content add-ons for the database company to compete with others?
Finally, asking for a trial subscription to the database is one of the best ways for librarians to investigate the database’s contents while allowing students and teachers the opportunity to try the product. Scheduling a database trial just before a specific research project begins in your library provides students and teachers the best opportunity to offer you feedback for future purchases. (And if you need more time, most vendors are more than happy to extend those dates!)