LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Late last week I asked the following question regarding periodical
databases and had a number of responses including a couple of requests
for a HIT on the subject. Thanks for all the help. I think we'll go
with either Electric Library or Newsbank.
Here is the question I asked.
I am looking for a relatively inexpensive full text periodical data base
on CD-ROM. Hopefully we will be operating this system on a school-wide
(K-12) network server and have access to a CD-ROM tower.
...We are a K-12 district with about 500 students - 200 in the elementary
and about 300 6-12. Is there anyone else who is using a product they
like in a similar situation? What is the cost? What are the advantages
and disadvantages?
Following is a brief summary of the responses I got regarding my
question. Several products were mention. Responses are organized by
product.
ELECTRIC LIBRARY
If I were you I would look into an on-line connection for Electric
Library. It is full-text for all articles and is a very complete
database. I have used it for two years and the teachers and students
both love it
...
We have used Electric Library this year at my high school and have
found it to be a wonderful resource. The students get lots of hits, the
informati on is very current, and the program is easy to use. In fact,
after having major problems with support from EBSCO MAS FullText Elite,
we've dumped them entirely to go solely with Electric Library.
...
We've been using Electric Library for the past several years and I have
been pleased with it. It contains more than periodicals but every time
my students use it they find some information suitable to their needs. I
pay $1895.00 for 5 stations.
...
Electric Library is giving a greatly discounted state price right now. I
am not sure I can affort a site license but they are sellig individual
station licenses at $150 per pop. I am considering two or three stations.
...
I just got a price quote from Electric Library for a similar service and
just about had a stroke. The cost for a single computer-use disk is $950
for the middle school. That's about a third of my yearly budget. I
don't think I'll be able to spend that much for such a service. Also
check out SIRS discoverer. I had a 60 day free trial and was impressed
with it, but it has one drawback: you have to send back the old disk when
you receive the new one.
...
our district uses Electric Library. Not sure of the cost. They continue
to add periodicals and it serves K-12.
...
There is a vast difference in pricing, and it appears that Electric
Library gives the most bang for the buck
...
I did subscribe to Electric Library (about $600) cheaper this year for
one station, but the use of it has been pretty low. Our students just
seem to prefer the Internet.
SIRS
How about SIRS researcher? $1500.
...
SIRS Discoverer is fine for 5 and 6 but in some cases is
too young for the 8th graders and does not cover all the subjects.
...
Although our students use all 4 of these programs, I'd like to express how
much we rely on SIRS Discoverer for our students with lower abilities.
This program is designed for students in elementary and middle school and
is wonderful for these kids that cannot use the other databases effectively
PROQUEST
I have used ProQuest for the last year plus and like it a LOT. You do
need some pretty good memory to make it go or your machine will freeze or
be sluggish.
MAS Full text ELITE
...
We use MAS Full text elite - on a Mac. network. I have found this to
work very well,
as it is an easy program to use. The students can usually find a least one
article that the need from the articles that are available for full-text
print out - usually severy - if they keep looking. The cost of the program
for school quarterly updates will be $2399 next year.
NEWSBANK NEWSSOURCE
You should have a look at Newsbank's Newssource. They have two versions,
at about $1,700-2,200 per year. I am considering replacing EBSCO with
this one. (PS - stay away from EBSCO's TopicSearch)
...
We are also previewing Newsbank which is good but it costs $1700 per site
and $3200 for a district site license.... The high school level kids like
EBSCO.
INFO TRAC TOM JR. DELUXE
we use Information Access' Info Trac Tom Jr. Deluxe at the middle
school and have tested all the others. It costs $890 per year and they
send a new cd-rom each month.
EBSCO
I am considering replacing EBSCO with this one. (PS - stay away from
EBSCO's TopicSearch)
The high school level kids like EBSCO.
Hope this helps. Thanks again to everyone who responded.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Kevin Dellit, LMS
Hayden School District
Hayden, Colorado
kdellit@colosys.net
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