Periodical full-text databases Joan Luke 27 Aug 1992 04:34 UTC

 Pullen Library of Georgia State University is considering
 purchasing full-text (or full-image) periodicals databases.
 If you have leased or purchased such a product we would
 appreciate your sharing your experience with us.  The
 sorts of things we're interested in include:

 - Which product do you have?
 - What is your overall opinion of the product?
 - What would you change about the product if you could?
 - How thorough and accurate is the indexing?
 - How frequently is it updated?  How quickly are
   new issues of journals added?
 - Does the journal list stay constant, or does the
   vendor drop and add titles? How often does this
   happen?  How much notice do they give you?
 - How user-friendly is the product?  Are patrons
   able to use it on their own or do they need training?
 - Do you have multiple stations?  Where are they housed?
 - Did you get additional staff to help service these
   products?
 - How reliable is the equipment?
 - How often do the machines go down?
 - What backup is available when the system goes down?
 - Do you have backup equipment?
 - How responsive are vendor reps to problems?  Do
   they return your calls promptly?
 - How responsive are service technicians to problems?
 - How are copies made and paid for?  How much do you
   charge for copies?

 If you are willing to share your experience, please
 respond to one of the addresses below.  You do not
 need to limit your responses to the questions
 listed above.  Feel free to respond in any way you like.

 Thanks for your help.  We will be happy to summarize
 for the list if there is enough interest.

 Please respond to:

       Elizabeth Cooksey   LIBEBC @ GSUVM1.edu
    or Pauline Hollmann    LIBPVH @ GSUVM1.edu
    or Joan Stephens       LIBJML @ GSUVM1.edu

 If you prefer to write you may address a reply to
 either person listed above at:

                   Pullen Library
                   Georgia State University
                   100 Decatur Street SE
                   Atlanta, GA  30303-3081