The database is made searchable through the Web by ColdFusion.

 

Search Features

dCompass provides considerable flexibility for searching a body of heterogeneous resources, and allows them to be displayed in a number of ways.

While databases have in the past been cataloged in the Libraries' OPAC, the advantages of using dCompass instead of, or in addition to, traditional MARC records for databases are numerous. While MARC records usually assign a single subject class to resources, dCompass allows extensive cross-listings for resources with applications to a wide range of research. For example, while Psychological Abstracts, the print predecessor to PsycINFO, is cataloged under a single LC Subject Heading (Psychology---Abstracts---Indexes), the dCompass record for PsycINFO includes subject classes and metadata that point to the broad applications for this research tool in business, education, communication sciences, and sociology. The ease in which a literature search of multiple years of huge bodies of publications can be performed---many database vendors even support the searching of multiple databases simultaneously---marks a change from the days of poring methodically over print indexes. The cataloging principals and metadata in dCompass encourage the cross-disciplinary use of these powerful resources.

 

Licensing, Remote Access, and Availability Information

A major feature of dCompass is the delivery of precise information regarding remote access of library electronic materials---an issue complicated by the multiple library locations within the UConn system and varying licensing restrictions. For broadly networked resources, codes in a Restrictions Access table denote whether they are available only within the libraries and computer labs on the Storrs campus and regional campus libraries, or whether the licensing agreements allow access to the UConn Law and Health Center libraries as well (or, conversely, whether resources are limited to only these libraries). For locally-networked resources, or databases residing on a single workstation within the system (such as certain low-use CD-ROMs), codes in the Access field of the database table generate messages describing detailed location information: that the title resides, for example, on the Social Sciences Shared Workstation in Information CafÈ 1, on Level 1 of Homer Babbidge Library.

The vast majority of widely networked resources are limited by IP range to users within the uconn.edu domain. For the patron wishing to use databases remotely, he or she must obtain a PPP connection, or a Proxy Account and password. In addition to linking to information about these services, an IP recognition feature in dCompass provides remote access information only when needed. When users outside the UConn IP range retrieve dCompass records for resources restricted to use within the uconn.edu domain, a pop-up window appears notifying the user that his or her access of this resource may be restricted. For users within the IP range, including faculty in their offices and students in campus computer labs, this notice is not displayed. The licensing agreements governing the use of resources are linked to the dCompass records for many databases, providing users with information about restrictions on use, and demonstrating to vendors a good-faith effort to make users aware of these restrictions. For many resources, especially those of vendors through which bundled databases are purchased, a license summary provides information on important restrictions that the user needs to be aware of (for example, whether commercial use is permitted, or if database content may be used for Interlibrary Loan or Electronic Course Reserve). From the Licensing Summary page, one can link to a scanned copy of the licensing agreement itself.

 

Future Developments: dCompass, the OPAC, and Library Web site Interoperability

The MARC records for these databases in the Libraries' online catalog link to the dCompass records, thus providing users with more metadata than available in the MARC record and displaying remote access information (when appropriate). For example, connect to the Libraries' online catalog, HOMER, and search for the OPAC record for Anthropological Literature. Notice that the OPAC record links to the dCompass record for that database.

A centralized, easily-maintained database of databases may be closely integrated with the Libraries' web pages and online catalog in the future to provide seamless and consistent information on electronic databases. Prototype templates for subject liaisons' web pages have been developed which would make formerly static lists of electronic resources---databases, electronic journals, and web sites---dynamically linked to dCompass. Forms which would allow liaisons to populate their web pages by choosing titles from a special interface for dCompass would result in pages which were more up to date and centrally maintained. Databases with changed URLs, for example, could be fixed in the dCompass record, and all pages pointing to the record would be instantly updated.

Endeavor's enCompass module, with the promise of interoperability between locally-produced databases and the OPAC, is another development in which dCompass may have future applications. The rapidly evolving technologies behind database-driven library web sites promiseto provide tools for even more cogent and dynamic organization of library resources.

 

Further Connections...

Allaire ColdFusionÆ http://www.allaire.com
University of Connecticut Libraries http://www.lib.uconn.edu/

 

Steven Batt, Librarian
Research and Information Services
Homer Babbidge Library
University of Connecticut Libraries
Storrs, CT 06269
sbatt@lib.uconn.edu
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