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It is my first column of 2023 and thus time to hand out the BUDDIE, the annual Database Review Award for Best Unknown Database. This issue of Information Today coincides [...]

In 2017, a new phrase--alternative facts--abruptly entered the nation's political vocabulary. It was a clever way to validate lies (which we meekly continue to refer to as 'untruths,' 'fake news,' [...]

Editor's Note: Yesterday I attended one of a series of luncheons for major customers among information professionals and listened to Dan Wagner's presentation. I thought it was sincere and articulate, [...]

'We--and a bunch of others--threw a ton of resources at a problem, without realizing that we were at the crest of a wave, and there was a bigger wave coming [...]

Remember when you first discovered online information? You can probably recall it with clarity, as you can for other turning points. If your experience goes back to the beginnings of [...]

For many years the online business situation was a status quo. Venerable names such as DIALOG, Dow Jones News/Retrieval, and LEXIS-NEXIS amassed vast collections of business data and developed powerful, […]

The initial reaction of the online community of Dialog's purchase of Data-Star recalled the story of David and Goliath. Dialog was cast as Goliath, a powerful giant bent on beating [...]

The sensational death of Robert Maxwell revealed the Maxwell empire as a giant Ponzi game in which enormous sums were plundered from one part to shore up shortfalls elsewhere. In [...]

FirstSearch is big news. Since its introduction in October '91, OCLC's end-user searching system has already made waves. Its impact among end users will have a ripple effect among librarians, […]

The number of online databases continues to grow and is now, by conservative reckoning, well over 4,000. Yet most online searchers regularly use only several dozen, and are aware of [...]

Word of Dialog Information Service's suit against the American Chemical Society sent a shock wave through the online community. After the initial surprise, reaction turned to dismay that the longstanding [...]

Among end-users, the name Dialog is less well known than those of rivals like Factiva and LexisNexis. This is ironic, because none of the proprietary online services have worked harder [...]

Dialog Corp. and Gale Group have had one of the most long-standing and successful partnerships in the online industry. Gale (or more precisely, the old Information Access Co. that is […]

This month I'll review a multidisciplinary database that contains the full text of dozens of short-entry reference books from British publishers. If this seems familiar, it's because in the June […]

The Web has done wonders for maps. What was for many people a disagreeable chore--using print maps to look up places and obtain travel directions--has become an effortless pleasure through […]

No company has been more important in the online business than Dialog. But from a parenting point of view, it's often been a neglected child. Lockheed, Dialog's first parent, encouraged […]

A mid the many corporate earnings announcements for the fourth quarter 2001, an unassuming release from Hoover's Inc. could be easily overlooked. The company, which went public only in 1999, [...]

It's tough being an aggregator. But then, it's always been tough to be an aggregator. It's tougher than being the other two sides of the information triangle: the buyers and […]

Thomson Corp. is the 800-pound gorilla of the online information business. You've heard the joke: 'Where does an 800-pound gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants.' With Thomson, it goes: 'What does […]

Commercial publishers and database producers have a range of strategies when taking their products to the Web. Some mount abridged versions for the sake of protecting print and proprietary online [...]

One of the great trends of the day is generic data. Information that you paid dearly for not too long ago is now lying about for the picking. Even the […]

Last issue's column gave good marks to Healthfinder, a new Web service for consumer medical information, produced by the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, Health and Human [...]

It is impossible to describe Medscape by assigning it to a category, since it occupies a place at the front of several online trends. It is a publisher's Web site, […]

EBSCO is one of the most familiar and well-established names in library circles. As a leading magazine subscription company, it has provided steady serials service to libraries for 50 years. […]

Comprehensive content and sophisticated search capability add value Nearly three years ago I reviewed a product in its beta stage (Information Today, September 1993, p. 28). It was the first […]

Microsoft Network (MSN) is no great agent of change in consumer online; like everything else, it is reacting in a period of turbulence, most of which is wrought by the [...]

The most profound trend in online information for the '90s is the downward curve of pricing. This is easily overlooked among other great, attention-grabbing changes: new online services, GUIs, widespread […]

In the history of consumer online, 1996 may be second in importance only to 1979, when CompuServe and The Source created consumer online service. 1996 (and beyond) will be a [...]

Last spring the Donnelley's Demographics database of population statistics was removed from DIALOG. This left a large gap in the field of online demographic data and severely curtailed our ability […]

They are amply supported with powerful search features, and their pricing structure is attractive enough to catch the eyes of professional and amateur searchers alike, Information Access Company is one [...]

This year may go down as the 'Year of the Makeover' for online services, with several leading online providers undergoing major renovations. NewsNet, DataTimes, and M.A.I.D. (with its Profound service) […]

You are going online to research current U.S. politics. First, you download the text of a piece of significant legislation, and then monitor its progress with daily reports. You check [...]

Homework Helper, available on PRODIGY, is a full-text, all-subject databank for meeting the homework and research needs of school students. The history of online is full of 'if only's.' They [...]

MAKING A LIST. CHECKING IT TWICE Making a list of the top 100 online databases would be exceedingly presumptuous--if it were not sorely needed. Indiscriminate information is everywhere; assessments and [...]

M.A.I.D (Market Analysis and Information Database) has long had a low profile among its peer group of business information services. There are several reasons. It is a British company that […]

It is a truism that change is constant in the online world. This old cliche has taken on greater import over the last few years with the emergence of a […]

Online databases are a bit like Professor Henry Higgins and Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Eliza Doolittle's loquacious suitors--very good at providing words, but not too adept at other forms of expression. Henry [...]

The announcement of the annual BUDDIE award for Best Unknown Database is often a light, even frivolous, event. But the context for this year's award, unfortunately, allows no room for [...]

It's self-evident that most Web content is ephemeral, and its disappearance will be neither noted nor missed. But not all of it--what about Web content that does indeed have enduring […]

Dialog I may benefit from a renewed interest in pay-per-view content Please take this quick quiz to assess your knowledge of Dialog's end-user search products. Examine the following list, and […]

These science news and reference sites can bring nonexperts up to speed It seems like everything we encounter these days is somehow a science lesson. Energy production, climate change, missile-defense […]

We are one year into the Great Web Dot.com meltdown. The NASDAQ has been halved, dot-com stock prices are in single digits, and Internet IPOs are being stuffed into drawers. […]

The winner of this year's Best Unknown Database Award is finally revealed In recent years, we've had to deal with monetary inflation and grade inflation, but these are minor annoyances […]

We may be at the point of diminishing returns with these mega-databases; they stretch the envelope so far that we may be better off contracting it instead of expanding it [...]

This service aims to be an alternative to the conventional college library Questia is finally here. The new online research service has had a long and well-publicized gestation, with ads, […]

What more can you say about news on the Web? Everywhere you go there's news. A portal isn't complete without top news headlines. There are dozens of excellent, thorough news […]

This new site might redefine the nature of a successful business portal The name 'Business.com' is one of the best known on the Web, but not for the usual reasons. […]

The Gale Group ... has gone over to the free side. One of the Web's great accomplishments (along with animated ads and worldwide viruses) has been to reinforce the notion […]

This newly made-over service fills an important information need It wasn't that long ago (although it does seem like it) when the comprehensive online services--the so-called 'supermarket' services--reigned supreme. Today, […]

This site offers comprehensive, consumer-oriented health information It seems that every month some new medical/health Web site appears--Dr.com this, Medical.com that, or something of the sort. It's nice to have […]