Reference Committee June 24, 1998: minutes This meeting was hosted by the Selma Library. Present were: Stan Matli, Madera County Library; Tom Zimoski, Fresno County Library; Sharon Vandercook, Mike Drake, and Judy Baumgardner, SJVIS; Janet Harader, Kings County; Kathie Poundstone, Porterville: Kay Anthony, Coalinga/Huron; and Louann Nickerson and Nancy Hughes, Kern County. Not present: Mariposa County, Tulare County, and Tulare City. CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order by the Committee chairman, Stan Matli EVALUATION OF THE ONLINE PERIODICAL DATABASES - After polling each member and much discussion, the Reference Committee decided upon the following ranking of the four contending periodical databases: First choice: INFORMATION ACCESS COMPANY'S GENERAL REFERENCE CENTER through INFO TRAC SEARCHBANK. Reasons for the first choice: 1. The IAC product is the most user friendly of the possible choices. There are, for example, links from a patron's subject choice to a list if similar subjects. If a patron misspells a subject, there is a link to possible correctly spelled subjects. 2. It has the best interface with dumb terminals. 3. The General Reference Center has a good ratio of full text titles to indexed titles. The Center has 415 indexed titles with full text for 315 titles. 4. The magazine selection best meets the needs of a public library. Second choice: EBSCOhost MASTER FILE FULL TEXT 650 OR FULL TEXT 350 Reasons for the second choice: 1. EBSCOhost does work with dumb terminals, although not as clear presentation as IAC. 2. It is the second in ease of use by patrons. It does have links to other articles from an initial subject choice. 3. Tables and charts of articles can be searched. Third choice: PROQUEST DIRECT'S PROQUEST DISCOVERY WITH CORE LIST Reasons for the third choice: 1. ProQuest Discovery does not have an interface with dumb terminals. Dumb terminals will be with us for from three to five years. 2. No subject links are provided. Search strategies are complex. 3. On the plus side, ProQuest does provide exact facsimiles of magazine pages, and the Core List has a somewhat better magazine selection for public libraries that the EBSCOhost product. AMERITECH'S IMPART -- Not acceptable. The Committee knows there will be cost restraints, but all were interested, as well, in the IAC HEALTH REFERENCE CENTER to help answer the many requests for very current health and medical information encountered at the reference desk. The minutes of this meeting will inform the SJVLS Administrative Council of the Reference Committee's decision. Mary Ellen Hul of SJVLS Computer Services will be informed of the Committee decision so she can negotiate with the vendors. Sharon Vandercook and Kay Anthony will be at the Council meeting in September to inform the Council of the recommendation of the Committee and answer questions. ADJOURNMENT