Search

These three essays describe the practical and administrative aspects of the implementation of computerized database searching at the Albany, Buffalo, and Stony Brook SUNY campuses. Originally prepared as papers for a conference of SUNY librarians, each essay focuses on one campus to address such questions as the number of patrons who use the service; the proportion of faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and off-campus users who make up the user group; which databases are most heavily used; how the searching is financed; whether patrons are screened in advance; and, if so, by whom; whether patrons are present at the search; whether online databases are used for answering quick reference questions as well as for extended literature searches; and the training and deployment of searchers. Responses to these questions indicate that there is a considerable diversity in practice in the way database searching is carried out on the three campuses, and some of the reasons for this diversity are indicated in the introduction, as well as some underlying problems faced by all campuses in their efforts to provide online search services. (RAA)