 Library Resources for Communication Studies |
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Selecting & Evaluating Communication-Related Databases
Introduction |
Journal Coverage |
Evaluation Criteria
Introduction
The collection development process for communication studies presents unique challenges including limited collection budgets, an interdisciplinary subject area, the rapid progression of the disciplines within communication studies, and the increasing significance of additional media formats. Librarians today face a new challenge that librarians of yesteryear only wish they had – which Communication-related database(s) should a library subscribe to?
These resources may help you to answer this complex question.
Journal Coverage
Journal Coverage: Communication Abstracts, ComAbstracts, and Communication & Mass Media Complete
This Excel spreadsheet is based on an analysis completed in December 2006.
Criteria for Evaluating Communication-Related Databases
This criteria is also available as a PDF file.
General Orientation
Type of database
- bibliographic, full-text, numeric, multi-media, combination, etc.
Content / Scope / Coverage
- Years of coverage, frequency of updating, are there any special retrospective projects/backfile initiatives as well as plans for expanding current content (new journal areas, grey literature, etc.)
- Is indexing of titles comprehensive or selective?
- What specific areas of communication studies are covered?
- Number of unique titles indexed
- Overlapping content/scope/coverage with other databases
- Availability and quality of abstracts
- Availability of full-text (including tables/graphs, etc.); embargo periods
- Availability and accuracy of title list (including dates)
Audience
- To whom is database mainly targeted? Academic, journalists/broadcasters, business community, all of the above?
- What audience is the evaluator representing? Undergraduates, graduates, both grad and undergrad, post-docs, other research programs/institutes, foreign students and programs, general public. [Our charge will be to consider all of these constituencies but when we're making decisions for our own institutions we evaluate on basis of a specific population.]
Reputation / Popularity
- What Communications programs subscribe? (Perhaps take a random sample?)
- Prestige institutions?
- Regional factors (certain products are more popular in certain regions)
- International market? Does one database reach overseas more than another? Are Reasons for this more content or market driven?
User Statistics
- If evaluating a database to which you currently subscribe, consult user stats
- For databases not currently in-house, consider consulting other institutions for user stats?
Vendor Issues
Price
- Archival rights?
- Cost-benefit analysis. Would purchase obviate need for other products in other formats-paper, CDs-as well as other databases?
- Is price based on institution type, size, FTE ("full time equivalent", formula for measuring size by student enrollment categories)
- Same rates for all customers?
Licensing arrangements
- Copyright, printing limitations, concurrent users, remote access, other restrictions
Negotiations / wiggle room
- May be based on other products from same vendor that you already have
- Knowledge of "other deals." Librarian-sharing, may not always be permissible
Usage data
- Is usage data available, in regular reports? Does the customer have to run the reports, or is this service provided by the vendor, upon the customer’s request?
Tech support contract
Technical / systems considerations
- Where does software reside?
- Hardware requirements
- Size: Number of records, number of megabytes
Searching
Interface - general feel
- Simple? (too simple?) Intuitive? Logical? Consistent?
Search options
- Basic and advanced searching available? Can institution decide which search option is default?
- Keyword and subject searching available?
- What fields are covered in a keyword search? Can the user easily identify the fields covered? Is the full-text (when available) covered in keyword searching?
Availability and quality of controlled vocabulary
Boolean searching and set construction
Is phrase searching possible?
Author name
- Is name order flexible? If not, is example given?
- What not to do: ISI's name limitation (Doe, J)
Field structure
- Well-articulated? Clearly tagged?
- How transparent is field searching?
- What fields are available to search?
Truncation / Stemming / Wildcards
Limit options for searching
- By date, language, publication type, within a title
Ability to modify previous serach within results
Browsing capability
- Index vocabulary, publication titles
Search history, ability to save and rerun searches
Search alerts available (email, RSS)
Speed / reliability of search
Cross-searching
- Is the database integrated into a multidisciplinary suite of products? If so, it is possible to easily cross-search the communications database and those in the other disciplines?
Error messages
- Are the error messages clearly stated and easy for the layperson to understand?
Help
- On search page-a few, discrete, well-placed examples
- Help section
- Context sensitive help
- Tutorials
- Vendor instruction-individual, group training (how many hours? Free with subscription or add-on), helpline to call? (days/hours), paper documentation
Display / Results
- Download options (formats, limits)
- Bibliographic managers (Refworks, Endnote, etc. - which does it support?)
- Link resolver functionality
- PDF and html formats
- Sorting and ranking features
- Brief and full records
- Print/save/e-mail functions prominently displayed and easy to use?
Created: November 2007
Last modified: Wednesday November 07, 2007