10. a. What are the author’s qualifications for the
fulfillment of his/her purpose.
b. The librarian must rely on the qualifications
of the author given in the book.
c. Librarians own understanding and depth of
knowledge of the subject
d. A check of the author in standard
biographical works such as Who’s Who or
American Men and Women.
11. e. Include the education and experience of the
editors and contributors, as indicated by
degrees earned and organizational affiliations.
f. Reputation of the publisher or sponsoring
agency.
12. If a cd-rom or online database has a print
counterpart, authority can likewise be judged.
When there is no print counterpart, it maybe
necessary to judge authority from statements
presented in the documentation describing
the electronic source.
13. g. The imprint of the publisher may indicate
the relative worth of a book.
h. Objectivity and fairness of a work are
important considerations.
14. Statement of purpose
It is necessary to judge to what extent the
statement of purpose is fulfilled in the text.
Has the author or editor accomplished what
was intended.
Aspects of scope includes subject and
geographical coverage.
Time period coverage is also important for
many reference works.
15. How current are the contents?
For serial publication, how frequently is it
updated.
Electronic sources may have rely more on
documentation, written descriptions that
attempt to characterize the coverage of the
source.
16. Peter Jacso provides a thorough review of
approaches to assessing database scope.
Factors to consider:
a. Size of the database
b. The number of sources and time period
covered.
c. Unique content when compared to other
databases.
d. Geographic language coverage.
17. The librarian must ask one major question:
a. Is this work for the scholar or student of the
subject, or is it for the layperson with little
or no knowledge.
18. Accuracy is important in a certain work.
How reliable are the facts presented?
How “dirty” is a database? Are there
misspelled words, missing data elements or
inconsistent formatting of parts of the record
such as authors names?
Objectivity can be assessed by examining the
coverage of controversial issues and the
balance in coverage given to various subjects.
19. A major factor of frustration in the evaluation
and purchase of different sources is the
expense involved.
The costs of prints and sources in distributed
electronics formats are similar in that a copy
is acquired for in house use in the library and
the purchase or subscription price buys
unlimited access to the contents of the
source.
20. Pricing of online databases follows a variety
of models, from charge per use to
subscription with unlimited access for
authorized users.
Pricing may depend on the ff:
a. Size of potential user populations
b. Ownership of print equivalents.
c. No. of simultaneous users of the resource.
d. Whether the library is licensing the database
as part of a consortium or individually.
21. costs include:
a. Purchase and maintenance of equipment to
make the contents accessible.
b. May also consider the costs in terms of the
staff support needed to allow users to make
use of a non-print source.
22. When reviewing print sources one is
concerned with the physical make up and
features of the book.
If it includes illustrations; one must judge
their quality and relationship to the text.
23. Straightforward to use
Predictable in cost
Usable by more than person simultaneously
if produce as a multivolume set.
24. Space required to house print sources
Problem in maintaining their currency
Limitations on search strategies.
25. Print and microform arrange entries in a
particular sequence:
a. Alphabetical
b. Chronological
c. Classified
26. One will always be interested in identifying any
special features that distinguish a given reference
source from the others.
Any new developments that make database
searching easier and more accessible to users
will affect the choice among products.
In the case of electronic sources, one must
consider the quality of available
documents, training, and customer support.
For web resources, effective use of hyperlinks
may add to a source’s value.
