NewsBank Trial

This week we're going to take a look at the NewsBank database to which we have a free trial until 10/15/08.

As you know, the Newark Star Ledger is no longer supporting the interface through which we received the Trenton Times archives (along with a number of other New Jersey newspapers). These have been sold to NewsBank.

Go to http://www.infoweb.newsbank.com/ The user name and password are both prinpl (although I didn't have to log in). Click on "America's Newspapers," then check New Jersey. The available newspapers for New Jersey will come up. We can get just the Trenton Times or any combination of the newspapers listed here.

They can be searched all together, or you can choose to search several or just one, by checking the desired titles. Clicking on the individual titles will give you the metadata for each, most importantly the dates of coverage.

NewsBank has entered into a partnership with EBSCO which provides two very desirable features. First, the user can search by issue just as in EBSCO. The most recent issues come up when you click on a title, and clicking on any one of these will give you all the articles. There is a drop down box beside this that allows the user to choose another month. The second is the fact that any of the newspapers we choose here can be searched along with any or all of our EBSCO products.

The scope of the coverage mimics Factiva coverage--full text of all articles, but no images, charts, tables, advertising or score columns.

The rep has not given me a price as yet, but I do know that is will be considerably more than the $420 we were paying for the interface we received through the Star Ledger. As soon as I know prices, I will let you know.

In the meantime, play around with it, and let me know which of these titles, in addition to the Trenton Times you would like to have (in the best possible world). I really want to hear from you on this one!

Europa World Year Book

The Europa World Year Book has long been one of my favorite reference sources both for the quality and depth of the information provided and its ease of use. It is updated yearly in two volumes and costs $1320 per year. So, of course, the questions are, do we use it enough to justify the price, and how much of this information is easily available on the internet or within our databases.

The entries are arranged alphabetically by country, and each follows the same format: for each country there is an introductory survey, followed by a statistical survey, and then a directory. There is also a 475 page section on international organizations (which I didn't know was there, and have never used).

Within our databases, Facts on File World Atlas has a nice summary for each country and Britannica Online also has good country information, but neither has the depth of information included in Europa's statistical survey and directory sections. Online, the best and most complete information I could find was the US Department of State's Background Notes (and, of course, Wikipedia).

Let me know what you think.