ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 14 / C&RL News was the best initial investment in optical disk-based periodical indexes for W oodw ard L ibrary. The evaluation process utilized by W oodward Library differs from other processes th at have been con­ ducted. The criteria used went beyond comparing the features of the products evaluated. Further­ m ore, as stated by C arol Reese, “ ...th e m ajor method of evaluation employed to date has been through the use of user surveys....”4 An exception to this method is described in the Reese article, and 4C a ro l Reese, ‘M an u al Indexes Versus Computer-Aided Indexes: Comparing the Read­ ers’ Guide to Periodical Literature to InfoTrac II ,” R Q , Spring 1988, p. 384. ’ Reese, pp. 384-89; Christine H. Guyonneau, “Magazine Index Plus or Academic Index?” Col­ lege and Research Libraries News, July/August 1988, pp. 430-33. also in a more recent article by Christine Guyon­ neau.5 Both of these articles describe the process in which selected periodical indexes are compared through analyses of selected topics’ coverage in the indexes. A third process is now suggested. Com put­ erized periodical index products w ith comparable subject scopes are compared based on their individ­ ual coverage of a local library’s periodicals collec­ tion, and the rate of success which users have in finding the indexed articles within that library, once the articles are identified. Beyond the decision of w hat product or combi­ nation of products to buy is the need to clarify this new technology’s role in libraries. Will it replace, supplement, or simply coexist w ith other library tools? Once the role is clarified, then the technol­ ogy can be used to its fullest potential in each li­ brary setting. ■ ■ by Ellen P. Flynn Reference Librarian Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz Campus Library Further data on a popular optical disk index. T he Pennsylvania S tate U niversity’s O gontz Campus Library is currently using the Information Access Company’s Academic Index on InfoTrac II on a trial basis. The Library administered a ques­ tionnaire to the users of InfoTrac between March 17 and May 1, 1988, to gauge the users’ reactions and examine the suitability of continuing the sys­ tem on a perm anent basis. The Ogontz Campus is one of twenty branch campuses of the Pennsylvania State University. Students may enroll in a two-year associate degree program or begin the first two years of a baccalau­ reate program. More than 120 Penn State bacca­ laureate majors are available at the Ogontz Cam- U sers’ reaction s to In foT rac in an u n d ergrad u ate library January 1989 / 15 sa gr ee ly )g % on 10 st r . D i (0 0 l 0 0 t re e ha )) ) w %% % ag 3e 1 2 0 0 is m 00 0 ... ((o ( 3D l 2s ag re e ee di sa gr ) ) ))) % % %% % er 4 9 2 42 0 0 00 . . th . (1 .( ( (( 2 N ei or 8 2 42 1 n tah ) ) ) ) )e % % % %E e %w IR r 4 3 3 5 8g e 2 2 2 (1 1A m ( ( ( N A 2 0 1 4 7 ( so 2 2 2 1 1 N en . T IO giv E S ) ) ) )ee gl y t) o % % % % % n Q U srg A st ro n 3 1 3 3 7 u7 6 6 8 7 t( ( ( ( ( a7 3 7 6 1 t6 5 5 7 7 S 4 ,no rs nt s eP nd e R es po 92 87 90 92 92 B us in es s 1 ,ytluca F 6 , s. t. e s g nt n n eu u s i ro do s ei oy s. uh t u v m o l tt c i r o Su ew fo y t r d ct d gi s to e 83d v n r in e as a erni e us c se T : o o sir i n gr w ou p t ec o n f as s r i na ne m en og r dIb fa i en r t T n us e en ly s r o tio ns n in re o oe a f f ei u spc n n l e a sc i . I fu l q . o bc r c ss ce tt ” , a Ra l hP a l su cc e a r r Q ue s r l c s b lr r e aT a L r aa T a T f p e r o m rE eu o e o e rf r H l f s f mv p U s n o a n e nf “ I I O oI v r I I c 92 16 / C&RL News pus. C urrent enrollment is 3,221 students, 58% percent of whom are deficient in m ath or English. The Library contains a collection of books and periodicals geared to the first two years of under­ g rad u ate studies. Penn S tate’s online catalog, LIAS, enables faculty and students to access the collections of the other campuses and facilitates in­ tercampus loan within the system. In fo T ra c is an au to m a te d reference system w hich allows retrieval of bibliographic records stored on a compact disk. The disks are updated m onthly. The A cadem ic Index database is de­ signed for research in the humanities, social sci­ ences, general sciences, and current events. The In ­ dex provides citations to over 375 scholarly and general-interest periodicals, as well as citations from The New York Times. Periodical coverage ex­ tends from 1985 to the present for general-interest titles and from 1987 to the present for scholarly ti­ tles. The New York Times citations cover the latest six months. The Ogontz Library owns thirty-six percent of the titles indexed. After tallying the responses on the questionnaires given to the InfoTrac users during the trial period, the L ibrary found the results and observations to be resoundingly positive. A total of ninety-two users completed the questionnaires between March 17 and May 1. Eighty-three (90%) of the respondents were students, six (0.07%) of the users were fac­ ulty, one was a business person (0.01%), and one did not give a status (0.01 %). The majority (73 %) of the users strongly agreed th a t InfoTrac can be used without formal training or instruction. Sixty- three percent felt th at they successfully answered their reference questions using InfoTrac. A signifi­ cant number (83%) found InfoTrac easy to use, and 73% preferred InfoTrac to comparable refer­ ence tools. For the reference librarians, the most gratifying aspect of the InfoTrac trial was the enthusiasm it generated among students, as the following com­ ments show: “There is nothing like InfoTrac. It is so conven­ ient and easy to use. Finding articles is no longer the labor it once was. This is a great addition to our library.” “Most incredible source of research assistance I ever used!” “I like it a lot. It’s new and exciting.” “Very easy to operate, cuts down on research tim e.” “I found InfoTrac to be an excellent source th at I hope to use more in the future. I don’t think any student can disagree.” “Love it!” The only negative comments, one from a faculty member and two from students, regarded the lim­ ited time period covered by the Academic Index and the fact th at the Library doesn’t own all the references covered in the Index. The first com­ plaint is easily remedied by referring patrons to printed indexes to access material before 1985. The second complaint can be remedied through utiliz­ ing intercampus and interlibrary loan. The Index may also help in collection development by pin­ pointing gaps in the periodical collection. On the down side, there are the usual problems likely to be encountered w ith any computer equip­ ment. The printer jammed periodically but was easily fixed by realigning the paper. The PC itself had to be replaced shortly after we received it, but I AC rectified the problem promptly. There are op­ tions available in regulating the use of the PC. The L ibrary elected to disconnect one of these options, the “print screen” function, so th at citations would be printed out one at a time and paper would not be wasted by continual printing of whole screens and citations not really needed. In terms of searching, locating the exact heading or subheading used for a particular topic may re­ quire more time in InfoTrac th an in a printed in­ dex. However, browsing the subject guide and the list of “see also” references does facilitate the search, and the students seemed to find the time in­ volved w ith research less w ith InfoTrac than w ith the printed indexes. They considered the fact that the citations were printed out for them to be a defi­ nite plus. Finally, librarians need to rem ind students that In fo T ra c should be used in conjunction w ith printed indexes for complete coverage of a topic. In my opinion, the advantages of InfoTrac far outweigh the flaws. As noted previously, ease of use is quite im portant in attracting students. Info- T rac’s uncomplicated search system is enhanced by an instruction card on the front of the PC, which is m atched to color-coded keys, including a “help” key. This guides students to the proper subject heading or subheading. T he major advantage is th a t th e Ogontz stu­ dents, many of whom are reluctant library users, were so excited about InfoTrac th at they not only spent more time researching their topics than they ordinarily would have, but they also seemed to en­ joy doing so—the highest praise of all for the sys­ tem. ■ ■ Papers needed for symposium at Cleveland State A call for papers has been issued for a sympo­ sium on “The Role of University and Public Li­ braries in Meeting the Information Needs of State and Local Governments” to be held at Cleveland State University on May 8-9, 1989. Abstracts of papers th at address the topic are due January 31, 1989; the final paper deadline is April 15. For more inform ation, contact: Janice Patterson, Assistant Dean, College of U rban Affairs, UB216A, Cleveland State Uni­ versity, Cleveland, OH 44115; (216) 687-2133.