Naturwissenschaftlich‐technische Information: Online, CD‐ROM, Internet (Scientific and Technical Information: Online, CD‐ROM, Internet), 2nd rev. ed.

Citation

Voigt, K. (2006), "Naturwissenschaftlich‐technische Information: Online, CD‐ROM, Internet (Scientific and Technical Information: Online, CD‐ROM, Internet), 2nd rev. ed.", Online Information Review, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 82-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520610650363

This is a completely revised edition of a work first published in 2004. The difference lies, almost without saying, in the coverage of new developments in this field and also in the new publishing house. The author, from the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, established her own publishing house, E. Poetzsch Verlag, with this as the first title.

In this book the fundamentals of scientific and technical information sources are given. The author subsumes under “scientific and technical” information (STI) on health and life sciences as well. Taken together, STI and health/life sciences information comprise 32 per cent of online information resources – a very large market share indeed. Thus a text on these two broad fields is not only warranted but necessary.

This text is not just a compilation of available information‐sources on CD‐/DVD‐ROM, and web. The first section describes the background of STI, including the structure and use of databases. A chapter on methods of information retrieval in databases of science and technology follows. Then a section on CD‐/DVD‐ROM databases is presented. The databases are described according to their types: bibliographic, factual, referral, etc. A large part of the book is devoted to STI on the Web, covering both fee‐based free internet resources. With respect to fee‐based services the major international hosts and their range of products are explained. Further, the author addresses search engines, meta‐search engines, mailing lists and newsletters, newsgroups, web portals, web rings, best‐of services, etc.

The main target group for this textbook is students of information sciences. Each chapter and sub‐section concludes with precise questions for review to help reinforce the knowledge gained. A list of printed references as well as a compilation of electronic references is given at the end of this book. The references as being of high relevance for teaching. The list of electronic references comprises the most important – but not all – links given in this textbook.

The work is written in German, and there is a clear need for a good English translation that can be used by students worldwide. A percentage of scientists in the fields covered may already have enough knowledge of German to handle the work, but again an English version would make the work far more marketable. Although this edition includes a comprehensive index, it lacks either a glossary of used terms or list of abbreviations, both of which would contribute to the value of this text/reference work. Another aspect which might be considered in a future edition is the topic of information quality. Furthermore, a distinction between free Internet versions and commercial versions of databases might be of interest to the readers of such a reference work.

But for its language limitation, this must be regarded as a standard text and reference guide to STI and life sciences information in electronic format.