Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, February 2000

Online Information '99

This year was a break with a long tradition as the EU did not hold its regular breakfast meeting. The EU stand however was there as usual for the three days of the exhibition. It offered previews of new developments on CORDIS and Eurostat, the launch of the redesigned web site of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, and updates on changes to other database sources such as EUR-Lex, Eudor and CELEX. The key commercial players in the EU information market were also present to demonstrate new developments in their products. Some like Context's web service are already launched; others such as Ellis's OJ Online are still to come while Chadwyck-Healey was running introductions to KnowEurope. As ever the exhibition provides a one-stop shop for the latest news of EU electronic information resources.

SCAD IMPROVEMENTS

It was announced that the SCAD database, now like ECLAS falling within the remit of the Unit for Libraries, European Documentation Centres and Databases headed by Neville Keery in the new Directorate-General for Education and Culture, was to move to a 'new technical platform' from 31 January. What that means in practice to users is improved search functions. The EUROVOC thesaurus is now multilingual instead of simply in French. Selection of search terms can now be made by consulting lists, and the frequency of updating is to move from weekly to daily.

To search by author, the initial step looks the same: simply enter the surname only. Then a pop-up menu appears and allows selection from a list of options showing first name details. More than one can be selected at a time by using the Control + Select function, or Shift + Select for a range of headings. Searching for a reference number is easily done by choosing the year from a pop-up menu and then entering the document number. The domain number codes, which offered a broad subject classification, are no longer used when searching. Instead selection is done by consulting a list of subjects.

When references are displayed some contain active hyperlinks which generate a CELEX plus window with the full text (free of charge) or offer a link to EUDOR if a page facsimile is required. In some cases there may even be a pdf icon without having to go to EUDOR.

The News Update feature facilitates quick access to the latest information on a selected list of topics. Language options can be specified as well.

Related urls: http://europa.eu.int/celex/htm/celex_en.htm and http://europa.eu.int/scad

CELEX EXPERT SEARCH IS LAUNCHED

CELEX's expert search facility has gone public, though a number of developments and enhancements are still to follow. Currently the search screen is available in French only, though the English database can be searched. The English version of the search screen is expected by mid-February together with a translation of the Expert search guide. Other languages will follow.

Like the basic Menu search which is still available, the Expert search offers either a pay-per-view option or a flat fee subscription but there are slight differences in the pricing. See the subscription information online for full details.

Additional features on the initial screen include a password changing option, a news section outlining developments and recent changes, direct access to the public helpdesk and - trailed as coming soon - a legal discussion forum.

To access the Expert search mode users must have a browser which supports Java applets. Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher and Netscape 4.5 or higher are recommended. On the search screen, terms may be entered directly in to the box in the top left or pasted in from browsing the indexes. The ability to browse indexes online is in itself a helpful improvement. Search terms can be combined using the Boolean operators offered in the top right of the screen and can be linked to specific fields which can be selected from the bottom left of the screen. The “Zoom” feature of the Mistral version, enabling the searcher to focus in on the occurrence of a particular term, is once more available but remember that it only works for searches on the title or text. The Help button offers brief guidance but again only in French at present.

When displaying results in summary, users now have scope to define one of two formats - standard or tabular - by clicking the appropriate icon on the top left of the page.

A quicker response time is one of the expected benefits of the current development of the system, though this was not in evidence when it was tested recently. Further work is to continue over the next weeks and we should see the addition of links to pdf and TIFF files, access to the search history and the opportunity to save search profiles. Altogether it will now be possible to construct much more precise search strategies.

Though it is quite a complex screen, the vastly improved functionality of the Expert mode will be a boon to information specialists who understand the content and structure of the database, while the clear basic menu search facility will continue to make the data accessible to the inexperienced user.