Manual of Online Search Strategies. Volume 3: Humanities and Social Sciences

Citation

Limb, P. (2002), "Manual of Online Search Strategies. Volume 3: Humanities and Social Sciences", Online Information Review, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2002.26.1.57.3

Previous editions of this title were published in a single volume; this is now impractical given the explosion of databases, Web sites, dial‐up online services and CD‐ROMs that the volume(s) seek to cover. Volumes 1 and 2 treat the sciences, and law, business and patents, respectively. Volume 3, under review here, deals with the humanities and social sciences. The second edition, in 1992, was at the dawn of the Internet, and a new edition is long overdue. For this third edition a new section on education has been added. The five chapters cover search strategies, citations, social and behavioural sciences, humanities, and education resources. There are separate database and subject indexes.

This work explains to readers, through well‐structured argument and copious examples of actual searches, how to choose, locate and use databases. It gives sound advice geared to a range of different users on effective search methods. Chapter 1 (which appears in all three volumes) outlines basic search operations and language, vendors, interfaces and database evaluation methods. It includes examples of displays performed via the Internet, DIALOG, OPACs and CD‐ROMs, and goes on to appraise critically these different means of accessing online information. The authors explain the underlying content and operation of these systems and the difference between, for instance, natural and controlled language. Chapter 2 analyses the world of citations.

The final three chapters are the core of the subject approach. The humanities chapter, which focuses on CD‐ROM databases rather than Internet sources, provides a perceptive account of the nature of humanities research, how it differs from the sciences, and the implications for searching. Weaknesses of particular database designs are presented, arming the careful reader with valuable search hints, for instance in searching dates and names. This explication of the nature of databases and how to exploit them is a real strength of the book. A wealth of information is presented to enable the reader to choose which electronic tools might best be required in particular cases. The final chapter, on education, includes a useful section on resources for children.

The book contains many examples of searches, broken down clearly into sequences. It is a complex and detailed text, but then so is the Net! Less convincing is the claim by the authors that it can be used as textbook, manual and subject handbook. While the search strategies will aid students and librarians alike, and the large number of resources discussed lends it to being a kind of directory of recommended resources, the complex terminology and copious examples ensure it will be daunting to novices. Some subject specialists, on the other hand, might find it too basic. The sweep of the book is ambitious, and at times it is apparent that the authors would have profited from more consultation. Thus, they claim that “sometimes the only resource for education information in a particular place is a national or regional database or Web site” and proceed to cite various Web sites as preferred sources, apparently unaware of much richer burgeoning information sources. In the fast‐moving world of e‐information, it can be risky to commit to print, and parts of this work might better be manipulated on the Web. Why is so much attention paid to outdated applications such as CD‐ROM journals that the market has left behind? Yet, the book is sensitive to the needs of different clients, some of whom may, for reasons of geography or income, have to rely on older technologies.

This book can be of considerable use to reference librarians involved with instruction in the use of databases and Internet resources, and to advanced users. It is recommended for tertiary libraries.