|
Library Journal, February 1,
2005
Choice, February 2005
Review from: Library
Journal, February 1, 2005
Bibliographic Index Plus (BI+) indexes over 350,000 bibliographies
covering the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and technology. It
also includes approximately 100,000 full-text bibliographies in many
languages. Content comes from over 2,800 journals and 5,000 books each
year. The file covers 1984 to the present and is updated daily. The
WilsonLink SFX technology provides full-text links to OpenURL-compliant
databases.
How Does It Work? The search interface is the spare,
clear, and easy-to-use WilsonWeb system, which allows a Basic web-box
fill-in search, an Advanced search (combining multiple terms; sorting by
different elements; limiting by year, peer-reviewed material, articles
with page images, document type, or physical description), and Browse (by
22 separate access points). The system also has a detailed search history,
thesaurus, Print/Email/Save options, online help, and an
InfoCenter.
Can You And Your Patrons Use It? One of the coolest
features of the WilsonWeb system is the ability to winnow down results
quickly and easily just by hitting screen buttons. A Basic search for
"major league baseball" got 211 hits. Limiting with the full-text only
button produced 207 hits, and the peer-review limit resulted in a
manageable list of 142 items. They were broader and more interesting than
anticipated and included "The New York Yankees and the Conservative Use of
Space" and "Testing the limits of elite influence on public opinion: an
examination of sports facility referendums."
Next I tried a Basic search for "guantanamo bay
prisoners" and got seven hits in sources ranging from Studies in the Novel
to Social Studies to an article from Presidential Studies Quarterly on the
impact of antiterrorism policies on separation of powers and John
Ashcroft.
Surprisingly, a search for women mystery writers took
repeated, focused effort. A Basic search for the phrase "women mystery
writers" produced only two hits. An Advanced search for "Mystery stories"
combined with "women writers" as keywords found three. But in one of those
records, the subject heading "Detective and mystery stories/ Women
authors" resulted in eight bibliographies, all right on the money.
Having received unusual results for baseball, I browsed
the word as a subject, and that was fruitful: 23 hit for Baseball
bibliographies and 62 hits for Baseball/History bibliographies. A Browse
for "Guantanamo Bay" found nothing, but a browse of "detective and mystery
stories" found the eight listings for women authors as well as other
pertinent items.
I tried out the Thesaurus with mixed results. My search
for "gay marriage" found four hits, whereas a search for "same-sex
marriage" located 14-and there was no overlap among the results. Curious.
But a Thesaurus search for "globalization" hit a jackpot: 12 entries with
460 hits, including an entry for "anti-globalization movement"!
How Good Is It? This wonderful reference tool rates a
nine (taking a point off because I had to play around to get some of the
results). Be aware that it’s designed more for those who "get" controlled
vocabulary and Library of Congress subject headings than for end users.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended for all library
collections.
Reviewed by Cheryl LaGuardia
Review from: Choice, February 2005
Bibliographic Index Plus, part of the WilsonWeb system,
indexes bibliographies, bibliographic essays, literature reviews, and
serial bibliographies appearing in periodicals and books, 1982 to the
present. It cites 350,000 bibliographies and makes available 100,000 in
full text. The database's clear, simple search engine provides basic,
advanced, and browse search modes. Basic search allows natural language
and Booleans searches. Advanced Search allows Boolean searching in all
areas of citations and text or in 30 citation fields and in article text.
Searches may be limited by year, 24 document types, 25 physical
descriptions (e.g., diagrams, flow charts, inserts, and tables), full-text
document (html), page image documents (pdf), and peer review articles.
Results may be sorted in 20 ways (e.g., relevance, document type,
language, publication date). Customized Display allows users to change
display of search results and sort options, to select fields, and to
specify custom settings. Browse allows browsing in one of 21 fields in
citation or text. Browse results are displayed first in screens that show
the browse term in an alphabetical array of headings; clicking a heading
displays citations.
An online thesaurus suggests subjects and related terms
used in the database’s controlled vocabulary. Search results are displayed
in a screen holding ten records, each record supplying brief bibliographic
information. Icons indicate whether articles are available in full text or
are peer-reviewed. Optional displays show icons to indicate articles
available in WilsonLink or in local library periodical collections.
Articles may be printed, e-mailed, or saved. The print option includes a
useful estimate of the number of pages. The system provides detailed
online help, and Info Center provides information about the database
(e.g., reference guides, tip sheets, how to cite articles). Useful for
undergraduates and graduate students at the beginning of a research
project.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic libraries.
 |
