Evaluation Set #2 Individual Assignment

1 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi

Terry Wasserman Group 4 Evaluation Set 2 ILS 504/Spr 09 Prof. Okobi 21 March 2009 Indexes and Abstracts

2 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Book Review Digest Citations Book Review Digest Plus. Accessed online at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 19 March 2009. Format Book Review Digest is available both in print, online and in WilsonDisc CD-ROM. Purpose Book Review Digest Plus brings together book reviews from all of Wilson’s online sources and links to full text reviews or long abstracts where available. Scope There are currently 1.3 million reviews covering 660,000 books from 8000 periodicals. More than 115,000 reviews are full text. Both fiction and non-fiction reviews are indexed and each book entry contains all of its reviews; online the reviews date back to 1983. The print version has been in publication since 1905. Both versions cover English-language reviews from publications in the U.S., Canada and England. Authority H.W. Wilson is a well-regarded publisher of indicies. As well as staff editors, the publication also get assistance from an advisory board. Accuracy The online publication is very accurate and any error could be quickly and easily fixed. Arrangement & Entry The online version allows keyword search and within each entry as little as one citation of a review or as much as several full text reviews can be found. The variable is really

3 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi what kind of press the book received when released. Only reviews published within 18 months of the book’s publication are cited. Each entry includes title, author, publisher, year of publication, pagination, language, ISBN, abstract, subject, Dewey classification, LC control number, accession number and reviews. Frequency of Publication The online version is updated daily. The print version as well as the CD-ROM are published monthly with the exceptions of February and July. Special Features In addition to an easy-to-use interface and library holdings indicator, the broad coverage of Book Review Digest Plus makes it extremely valuable to libraries. It covers not only fiction and non-fiction, but also children’s literature and reference works. Cost The cost is minimally $410 annually, but more depending upon format type.

Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry in Anthologies Citation Frankovich, N. (Ed.). The Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry in Anthologies. 11th ed. (1997). New York: Columbia University Press. Format This anthology is available in both print and online. Purpose Granger’s supplies the best index to poems available, allowing poets, students and instructors to find nearly any poem.

4 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Scope The afore-mentioned volume is particularly the index of poetry in anthologies. Another volume was published the year before indexing poetry in collected and selected works. This volume contains more than 75,000 poems, by 11,000 poets from 379 anthologies. The poems are on 4000 subjects, from antiquity to the present: the editors also provide the best 10 anthologies of the years as well as 30 honourable mentions. Authority The Columbia Press with the assistance of members of the Board of Consultants put together the anthology. Like all academic presses, this one has access to some of the best minds in the field and so the only potential problem with authority would be bias, though that is also unlikely with enough board members. Accuracy With its history of over a century in publication and its academic connection, the anthology is likely to be highly accurate. However, the online source is likely to be even more accurate as it is updated more frequently. It also reaches a larger audience and so has more potential critics out there in cyberspace to email their corrections to Columbia University Press. Arrangement & Entry The book is divided into three sections: 1. Title, First Line and Last Line Index; 2. Author Index and 3. Subject Index. Each section is arranged alphabetically—each poem is found in every section, assuming the information is available. Entries include all of the basic citation information that would be necessary to find a source, however brackets and

5 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi parentheses are used in special ways: brackets are used to show variant spellings and parentheses are used to show variant titles. Frequency of Publication Editions are published approximately every four years—the online version is updated regularly. Special Features The print edition has first lines and last lines listed in the index to assist researchers who don’t know the title or poet of the work they are searching for. The online version has keyword search for poems, poets, first lines and last lines allowing for much quicker searching. Cost $295 for the print version; to purchase the online version contact Columbia University Press for information.

Humanities Index Citation Humanities Index. (2008). New York: H. W. Wilson Company. Format Print and online versions are available. Purpose The Humanities Index is much like the Social Sciences Index in that it indexes all English language periodical articles within its spectrum, in this case humanities. Scope

6 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi The afore-cited Humanities Index provides cover-to-cover indexing of over 450 key international English-language periodicals and spans all of the humanities. Beginning in 1984, the index indexes all feature articles, review articles, scholarly replies, interviews, obituaries, operas, ballets, musicals, motion pictures, video recordings, television and radio programs, works of fiction/drama/poetry and biographies. The online version covers 500+ publications, with 640,000 records and annually adds 36,000 more. Authority The Committee on Wilson Indexes run by ALA’s RUSA advises the publisher and conducts in-depth studies of the Humanities Index, no journals are added outside of their recommendations. Accuracy H.W. Wilson is a highly respected publisher in the world of indicies and with ALA oversight, it is unlikely that the index would be error-prone. Arrangement & Entry Humanities Index is an alphabetically arranged author and subject index (there is no title entry). There are three subdivisions of subject headings: 1. historical period, 2. form and topic and 3. geographic divisions—the latter two are categorized alphabetically, but the former is categorized chronologically. Subject entries are done via the Humanities Index own categorization. Book reviews are arranged separately in their own alphabetic listing after the main body of listings. Frequency of Publication Online it is updated weekly, the print version comes out quarterly with annual cumulations.

7 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Special Features The subject entries are very useful as the subdivisions include things like choreographic works, motion pictures, Shakespeare, etc… It is a comprehensive listing and so for that is helpful, but Wilson’s new Humanities Full Text index is a good complement and possibly more useful for generalists. Cost A price quote can be obtained from H. W. Wilson online.

Media Review Digest Citation Media Review Digest, 36. 2006. Ann Arbor, MI: The Pierian Press. Format In print, but discontinued in 2007, after nearly 20 years of publication. Supplements to the 2006 edition were available on the web. Purpose Media Review Digest (MRD) allowed students, researchers and film buffs access to citations for evaluations, reviews, descriptions and awards for sound and film recordings. Scope MRD was an index of reviews, evaluations and descriptions of all forms of non-book media that appeared in periodicals—it was also a guide to software. This edition covered over 8000 citations to reviews and descriptions of films, videos and dvds, spoken word tapes, CD-ROMs, slides, transparencies, illustrations, globes, charts, games and other media forms. Over 60 periodicals and services are indexed in MRD.

8 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Authority Pierian Press as the publishers of two other indicies is a reliable source of information. Accuracy It is likely to be a very accurate source of information as Pierian Press employed an entire editorial board as well as having an advisory committee. In a cursory use, no errors were detected. Arrangement & Entry The volume is arranged into several distinct sections: Film and Video, Audio, CD-ROM and Miscellaneous. Each section has an alphabetic listing by title or other main entry as well as a cross-reference section for foreign-language titles and series titles. Each entry usually contains the following information: title, series title, description, producer or distributor, release date, video format, total running time, sound/silent/dubbed/subtitled, black & white/color/sepia/colorized by computer and pricing information. Frequency of Publication This was published annually. Special Features MRD includes audience level indications (pre-k through adult) as well as the Motion Picture Association’s ratings (G through NC-17). It was really the best guide to things like slides and transparencies which are rarely cited or reviewed elsewhere. Cost It costs $310 on amazon.com.

9 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Play Index Citation Yaakov, J. & Greenfieldt, J. (Eds.). Play Index. (1998). New York: H.W. Wilson Co. Format The Play Index (PI) is available in print or online. Purpose Whether published separately or in a collection, the PI provides the full publication details for plays, allowing theatre groups, drama coaches, students and performers to quickly and easily locate the play they are searching for. Scope The cited volume includes 4617 plays that were published between 1993-1997 and written in or translated into English. The scope of the publication is broad enough to include everything from classical drams to puppet plays making it useful for every dramatic need. The online version includes 31,000 plays published between 1949 and the present. Authority H. W. Wilson has been producing the Play Index for over 50 years. Accuracy Due to the professionalism of H.W. Wilson’s staff, the afore-mentioned volume is likely to be very accurate. The online version, which contains materials from 1900 onwards is likely to be the most accurate as it is updated so regularly. Arrangement & Entry

10 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Part 1 is the Author, Title and Subject Index; part 2 is the Cast Analysis, part 3 is the List of Collections indexed and part 4 is the Directory of Publisher and Distributors. Part 1 is organized under author title or subject in a single alphabetic list. The author entry is the most inclusive and lists the author, title, descriptive note, number of acts and scenes, size and composition of cast and number of sets. Frequency of Publication The print version is updated every 4-7 years; the online version is updated weekly. Special Features The online version includes all sorts of special features: keyword search, links to full text plays, 600+ monologues, the ability to search for roles by gender and the ability to search for plays by age (under 6th grade, 7th-12th, adult). Cost The print version is $285 and the online cost can be obtained by contacting H.W. Wilson.

Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature Citation Cannon, D. (Ed.). Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. (2007). New York: H.W. Wilson. Format It is available in print and a full text edition is available online. Purpose It is a guide to recently published articles in magazines in journals—it has been an essential research tool for students, librarians and patrons for more than a century.

11 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Scope The Reader’s Guide indexes over 300 magazines and journals. It covers such diverse topics as choreographic works, operettas, product reviews and video recording reviews. Authority It is published by H.W. Wilson, the well-respected publisher of so many other indicies. Accuracy Because it is released so often, there are probably mistakes in the monthly volumes, though probably not in the annual cumulations. However, the online version is likely to be very accurate as it is updated so frequently and it is easy to correct. Arrangement & Entry Author and subject are arranged in a single alphabetic list. Subdivisions of a subject are arranged alphabetically under the subject, but geographical subdivisions follow the other subdivisions in a separate alphabetic list. A description of how the arrangement of each category works is given in the preliminary pages. Each entry includes as many of the following as possible: author, title, magazine, pages, date and notes. Frequency of Publication The print version comes out in annual cumulations as well as monthly editions whereas the online edition is updated daily. Special Features The online edition has searchable full text articles which make it extraordinarily useful. It also has links to relevant sources, library holdings and up-to-date subject headings which make research even easier. Cost

12 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi The price for retrospective print editions is $440; to find out the price for the online version, contact H.W. Wilson.

Short Story Index Citation Greenfieldt, J. & Yaakov, J. (Eds.). Short Story Index. (1999). New York: H. W. Wilson Company. Format This index is available in print and online. Purpose The Short Story Index indexes short stories that are written in or translated into English; the index is used by readers, students and teachers. Scope The cumulative volume cited above included short stories published in collections and selected periodicals between 1994-1998. This index contained 23,397 stories: of these 19,320 appeared in 1,143 collections and 2,933 appeared in 97 periodicals. Short Story Index printed volumes go back to 1900; the online version covers 1984 to the present. Authority H. W. Wilson publishes the volume—the publisher is probably the best known in the field and highly respected. Accuracy

13 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Due to the professionalism of H.W. Wilson’s staff, the afore-mentioned volume is likely to be very accurate. The online version, which contains materials from 1984 onwards is likely to be the most accurate as it is updated so regularly. Arrangement & Entry Part 1 is the index it is arranged in alphabetical order in a single list consisting of author, title and subject entries. Part 2 is a List of Collections Indexed. Part 3 is a Directory of Publishers and Distributors and part 4 is a directory of periodicals. Each entry in part 1 includes basic citation information. Frequency of Publication The print version is indexed annually and a cumulation is published ever 5 years. The online version is updated daily. Special Features Short stories are also indexed in two of Wilson’s other publications, Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and Humanities Index. The online website includes links to full text stories, a library holdings indicator and up-to-date subject headings to keep up with modern interests. Cost The price for the print version is $260 per annum and WilsonWeb should be contacted to find out the price of the online version.

Social Sciences Citation Index Citation Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Accessed via Web of Science at New York

14 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Public Library for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 19 March 2009. Format SSCI is available in print and web-based formats. Purpose The SSCI is a multi-disciplinary index to the journal literature of the social sciences—it provides full reference citation for each article. SSCI is a research tool to be used by scientists, students, researchers and information professionals. Scope SSCI covers all of the social sciences from anthropology to library science to social work to women’s studies—the index ranges from 1956 to the present. It indexes 1950 journals in 50 social science disciplines and indexes individually selected, relevant items from 3300 of the world’s leading science and technology journals. Authority SSCI is available via Web of Science which is a product of Thomson (Reuters). Accuracy Thomson Reuters is a business service, created and maintained for both researchers and potential investors and is run by educated professionals—because of the possible financial implications of incorrect information, it is a reliable source of scientific information. Arrangement & Entry The index is arranged by subject and citations can be found via a keyword, title or author search. Each entry contains title, author, source, pagination, publication date, times cited on index, references, abstracts, document type, language, reprint address, publication information, e-mail, IDS number, ISSN and DOI.

15 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Frequency of Publication The online database is updated weekly. The print version is published three times per year with annual and five year cumulations. Special Features Web of Science is a fantastic resource, gathering seven databases together and dispensing citations from thousands of scholarly journals, books, reports, conferences, etc… However, when searching a term, there is no way to know which index database it was found on. The Related Records and Additional Information sections on the right of the screen for each citation are very useful as is the “times cited” part of the entry that tells the researcher when/where the article was cited elsewhere in Web of Science. It is also interesting to note that the SSCI was one of the first databases to become computerized. Cost No cost was listed, but cost can be obtained by contacting Thomson Reuters.

Social Sciences Index Citation Social Sciences Index. (2008). New York: The H.W. Wilson Company. Format Social Sciences Index (SSI) is available both in print and online. Purpose This is an English language index for articles written on topics within the social science spectrum for use by librarians, researchers and students. Scope

16 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi SSI provides cover-to-cover indexing of over 500 key international English-language periodicals and spans all of social science. Beginning in 1974, the index indexes all feature articles, review articles, scholarly replies, interviews, obituaries and biographies. Authority The publisher, H.W. Wilson is responsible for all editorial decisions, however the publisher is advised by the Committee on Wilson Indexes of ALA’s RUSA. RUSA conducts in-depth studies of the content of SSI and attempts to build a selective and wellbalanced list that allows coverage of all subject areas in the index. Accuracy H.W. Wilson is a highly respected publisher in the world of indicies and with ALA oversight, it’s hard to envision too many inaccuracies making their way into SSI. Arrangement & Entry SSI is arranged in alphabetical order in one author/subject index. Under author or subject headings, titles are arranged alphabetically. Subdivisions within subject headings are arranged alphabetically except in the case of historical period subdivisions, which are listed chronologically. Subject headings are based on Wilson’s own categorization, which itself is based on LOC, other reference works and the literature itself. Each entry includes basic citation information. Frequency of Publication The print edition is published quarterly with additional annual cumulations. The online edition is updated daily. Special Features

17 Wasserman, T Evaluation Set 2 Grp 4 Spr 09 ILS 504 Okobi Though the online version of SSI is available and updated daily, Wilson also puts out an online Social Sciences Full Text database that would be additionally useful to students, scholars and researchers. Cost Though the cost depends on a variety of factors, the print version is minimally $650 and H.W. Wilson should be contacted for price quotes for the online version.